Quête d’identité juive par les archives et la généalogie
The discovery of the death of my great-grandparents, gassed in 1943 at the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland, triggered a frantic search for archives and raised several questions. The genealogy proceeds from a research of kinship, of filiation which links us to a context of society and the archives, formerly secret and devoted to experts (historians and researchers), know with these users a revival of informational but also emotional interest, both at the concrete (material) and virtual (digital) levels. Jewish genealogy is on the fringes of this movement because it often testifies to another psychological and sometimes physiological need, that of filling a "gaping hole" that several migrations, pogroms and a "recent" genocide have dug. In this context, we wondered what the importance of archives could be (in a traumatic context) in Jewish genealogy and their emotional and identity impacts. To answer these research questions, we visited genealogical routes in two organizations: the Jewish Genealogy Circle in Paris and the Jewish Genealogical Society of Montreal. The portraits we have drawn differ. Parisians are more attached to the original archives (especially in the context of the Shoah) and they do not hesitate to share them; Montrealers are more fond of digital archives (especially in the context of immigration) and they favor information rather than medium. However all participants agree on one point: these archives, in addition to enabling better understanding and self-building for some, have consequences for their lives. Undoubtedly, this research of archives on their Jewish ancestors responded (partially?) to a need for singularity. A future study could characterize the archive which marks so much and the particularity of the effects it produces on those who seek it.
archives records genealogy jewish identity self-construction emotion