New Archive:

November 2001 Issue
Most Intriguing People 2001

An Interview With Mira Yockelson:

GenerationJ.com: Why did you start this group?

Mira Yockelson: I started it a year and a half ago because there was nothing I knew of in the D.C. area for grandchildren of Holocaust survivors. The problem is that the third generation is such a big age group. I have cousins who are 9 and I'm 27. I thought it would be a good way to connect with others. Also, my mom had started a group over 20 years ago for children of survivors that is pretty big now in the D.C. area. It's called The Generation After.

GenJ: What does your group do?

MY: We have a project called "Tapestry for the Living," where each person designs a piece of material as a reflection of his or her thoughts, opinions . . .anything about being a grandchild. of a Holocaust survivor.

GenJ: What do the designs look like?

MY: They can design it any way they want--with beads, paint, markers. Someone did a hamsa (Sephardic, hand-shaped amulet often believed to ward off evil, also serves as a reminder of God's "hand" in daily life.) I'm doing an embroidery with a tree that has a teardrop. Someone else did something with paint, writing out words everywhere. Others scanned in pictures and glued them on. The squares are 12" x 12" and can be of any type of material.

GenJ: Why embroidery?

MY: So that we can sew the pieces together, kind of like the AIDS quilt, and display it at conferences and in museums. We hope to get people from other parts of the country to do this also and then we can connect it together. GenJ: What are your goals for the project? How big do you hope it will get?

MY: It's pretty much an ongoing thing. Right now it's pretty small--there's a core group of about 10 of us in the D.C. area. We meet every 2-3 months. In the future we hope to get involved with the ADL and other anti-violence groups.

GenJ: Mira is a pretty name. Where does it come from? What does it mean?

MY: Thanks. I'm named after my grandfather's sister who died in the war. They were European, from Russia. Her name was Chaya Mira. But I don't know what Mira means.

GenJ: What do you do when you're not working on this project?

MY: I'm a social worker, I work at NIH. (The National Institute of Health.)

GenJ: Do you feel that your job helps you with your initiative?

MY: Just being in the field makes me more sensitive. No, I can't really say that. Maybe that's why I'm a social worker. I just feel, especially since my grandparents aren't alive anymore, that this is something I can do for them.

GenJ: With the Jewish Renaissance movement and everything, some people feel that we should focus on living Jewish culture, in order to move away from the thought of us as a victimized people. What do you think?

MY: What I try and do is relate it to what's going on today, like with hate and violence, in order to make it real. What I've found, is that people try to avoid the topic. They know what happened and that it was bad. I feel it makes it even more special to be Jewish and to be involved in Jewish things,because of what my family went through to be Jewish; it's what their family died for.

GenJ: You have an event coming up soon at the United States Holocaust Museum. Do you want to tell us about it?

MY: On Sunday, November 18, from 2:00 - 4:00 p.m. two volunteers at the Holocaust museum, who are German, will be speaking about their experiences. It's called "Austrian and German Reconciliation: A Discussion of Austrian-Jewish and German-Jewish Reconciliation Activity in the U.S." Roland Engel will represent an Austrian organization, Gedenkdienst, and Sandra Mieczkowski will represent the German Action Reconciliation/Service for Peace. It will also be a good opportunity for people to find out more about Grandchildren of Holocaust Survivors.

GenJ: Any other thoughts you'd like to share with us?

MY: If anyone is interested in getting involved, please contact me. My email address is myockels@yahoo.com.

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