Child Survivors of the HKP Labor Camp in Vilna and the Complexity of Holocaust Memory

Abstract This article examines how child survivors of the HKP forced labor camp in Vilna construct and negotiate traumatic memories decades after the Holocaust. Through analysis of a 2010 Tel Aviv reunion where survivors attempted to reconstruct their shared past 66 years after liberation, the study reveals the fragmented and contested nature of collective Holocaust memory. The HKP camp, commanded by Wehrmacht Major Karl Plagge, housed approximately 1,200 Jewish workers and their families. The reunion participants – formerly children – struggled with contradictory recollections, interrupting and challenging each other’s accounts while revealing how personal memory intertwines with acquired knowledge over time. The case study of Aaron Einat, who completely forgot giving testimony at age 13 only to rediscover it decades later, exemplifies the paradoxical nature of traumatic memory. This research illuminates how children processed incomprehensible experiences through play and adaptation, while demonstrating that memory fragmentation authentically reflects the fractured reality survivors endured rather than representing failed recollection.