By Michael Horn

My video titled “Through My Own Eyes” aims to persuade Jews that the current anti-Semitism in Poland should not stop them from travelling there. I created the video in the form of a photo-montage with photos, music, and quotes. This medium allowed me to provide a multisensory experience for the audience. It gave me the flexibility to show how powerful a trip to the Holocaust sites can be. This presentation is meant to be shown at various Holocaust museums. It is designed for Jewish individuals who are contemplating a tour of Poland and are conflicted about whether they should subject themselves to anti-Semitism. Since this audience might actually go on this trip, it is important that the video does not hide the other side of the argument. In addition, the fact that these Jewish individuals are seeing the video in the Holocaust museum means that they have already been exposed to information about the Holocaust and are watching this to get a clearer idea about what they will be exposed to on a trip to Poland now.

In order to persuade my audience, I utilized a variety of outside sources including historical information about the Holocaust, photos of the Holocaust, articles about current anti-Semitism, my own photos taken on a trip that I took to Poland last year, and testimonials from my classmates who participated on the tour. Facts about and photos of the Holocaust were used to set the historical context for the controversy. The articles incorporated photographs and headlines, which illustrated current anti-Semitism. My own photos added authenticity to my argument, and the testimonials of my classmates illustrated opinions which aligned with my own, and demonstrated how important it is to see the Holocaust sites firsthand. These sources were woven into the photo-montage with some of the information superimposed over photographs.