Toronto, January 22, 2025: Timed to coincide with Holocaust Remembrance Day on January 27, The Walrus Lab, in partnership with the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre (VHEC), will release The Hidden Holocaust Papers: Survival. Exile. Return., a six-part documentary podcast series that delves into the hidden family history of Canadian author Timothy Taylor. This poignant and deeply personal series uncovers stories of persecution, resilience, and survival during one of history’s darkest periods.
Sponsored by the VHEC and produced by The Walrus Lab, The Hidden Holocaust Papers details what happens after mysterious boxes arrive at Taylor’s Vancouver doorstep. He then embarks on a journey of discovery that takes him to Germany and into a hidden family history, spoken about rarely and in whispered tones. Following the breadcrumbs from remote farmhouses to the well-appointed offices of Germany’s cultural elite, Taylor’s on a mission to piece together his family’s experiences of persecution, death, exile, and survival under the Nazis; to make sure his mother and grandparents are properly commemorated; and to give voice to those the Nazis tried to silence. As he excavates the centuries-long history of his once-prominent German-Jewish family, Taylor asks what that legacy means for him, and us, today.
Complementing the podcast, Taylor’s 6,000-word feature article, “Paper Trail,” will appear in the May issue of The Walrus and will be available online on January 27. Structured around his journey to lay the Stolpersteine memorial stones where the victims last lived before Nazi persecution drove them into exile, hiding, or death, the article offers readers a brilliant and fresh overview of the personal reflections explored in the podcast.
The first episode of The Hidden Holocaust Papers will be available on January 27, 2025, and the series will be available on all major podcast platforms. For more information on the podcast and to listen to the trailer, visit: https://lnkfi.re/thehiddenholocuastpapers.
The series will conclude with a live taping of the final episode at the VHEC on February 13, 2025. For details on the event, visit www.vhec.org/live/.
About the Host and Producer
Timothy Taylor is a best-selling novelist, journalist, and professor at the UBC School of Creative Writing. His fiction and journalism have earned numerous accolades, including nominations for the Giller Prize and Canada Reads. His latest novel is The Rise and Fall of Magic Wolf. With The Hidden Holocaust Papers, Taylor embarks on an intensely personal journey to uncover and share his family’s hidden history. Taylor is also working on a memoir exploring this family history and reflecting on the discovery and significance of the family archive he inherited.
Anthony Cantor is a Canadian Screen Award-winning documentary producer based in Toronto. With expertise in historical, political, and true-crime storytelling, Cantor has contributed to acclaimed projects such as Enslaved (hosted by Samuel L. Jackson) and the podcast Exile (narrated by Mandy Patinkin). He holds a Ph.D. in history and frequently appears as an on-camera expert. Cantor’s work often focuses on uncovering lesser-known narratives, bringing historical events to life through meticulous research and compelling storytelling.
For Media Inquiries: For interviews, press materials, or additional information about The Hidden Holocaust Papers, please contact:
Timothy Taylor
Email: [email protected]
Anthony Cantor
Email: [email protected]
About the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre
The Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre (VHEC) is devoted to Holocaust-based anti-racism education and commemoration.
About The Walrus Lab
The Walrus Lab creates content, manages awards, plans events, produces podcasts, writes, edits, and fact-checks for top brands in Canada and beyond. Profits from the work of The Walrus Lab fund the journalism of The Walrus.
