Eva Fogelman served as a trauma expert consultant to filmmakers Aarón and Esther Cohen for this film about Holocaust trauma and its’ transmission.
May 1945. World War II ends and the concentration camps are liberated. Thousands of Holocaust survivors are rescued. On a foundation of loss, torture and cruelty, they are left to confront the brutal new reality in which they find themselves. Little by little they begin the long, painful journey of rebuilding their lives and adapting to a new culture, a new language, a new climate. The trauma of the Holocaust will always be present in their lives. They transmit it to their children with secrets, fears, traumas, guilt, sadness, nightmares through Whispers of Silence…
While our parents and grandparents may have been victims of the Shoah, they were/are much more than victims. And while there is intergenerational transmission of trauma, so has there been transmission of strength, of purpose, of humour, of the transcendent power of love. This film contravenes the simplistic message that it is only the trauma of the Shoah that is passed along from parent to child.
Aarón Cohen, director of the documentary Whispers of Silence has a degree in Journalism and Communication from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. UNAM (1973-1977). Founder and director of the companies Imagen Audiovisual (1978-1992), Weisz and Cohen Producciones (1992- 2003), Cohen and Cohen Creatividad and Momentum Films. (2003-). For more than 40 years he has been dedicated to the production of photography, multimedia shows, videos and documentaries. Among the events in which he has participated as a video producer are the Aviv Festival and The March of Living. He has produced events for various institutions of the Jewish Community of Mexico. He has directed Holocaust-themed documentaries such as Anne Frank, Righteous Among the Nations, Lawyers without Rights among others for the Tuvie Maizel Jewish and Holocaust Historical Museum. He is the director of the documentary Heaven in Auschwitz and and Whispers of Silence.
Esther Bejar, director of the documentary Whispers of Silence, has a degree in Communication from the Universidad Iberoamericana with a specialty in Communication Research. (1973-1977). She worked for the television network Televisa in the press and photography department. (1974-1978). For more than 40 years she has worked alongside her husband Aaron Cohen Hop in the companies they both founded. She has produced audiovisual material, videos, multimedia shows for companies and institutions of the Jewish Community of Mexico. From 1996 to 2000 she produced the television program “Through the Mirror” with the writer Guadalupe Loaeza for channel 40. She produced the audiovisual material for the permanent exhibition at the Jewish and Holocaust Historical Museum “Tuvie Maizel.” She has conducted interviews with survivors and children of Holocaust survivors. She is the producer of the documentary Heaven in Auschwitz and Whispers of Silence.