Phoenix native Taylor Krauss is a documentary filmmaker, working primarily in Rwanda.
Photo by Jonx Pillemer
The phrase "never again" resonates with Taylor Krauss, as he takes lessons learned from history to inspire the work he does today.
A Phoenix native and founder of Voices of Rwanda, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving testimonies of Rwandans and informing the world about genocide, according to its Web site, voicesofrwanda.org, Krauss won the 2009 Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award for the film "War in DR Congo" along with the other members of the "Worldfocus" team. Worldfocus is a nightly program of international news.
The official award ceremony took place May 28 at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.
Krauss served as the cameraman and producer of the film. Other team members were correspondent Michael Kavanagh, executive producer Marc Rosenwasser and producer Lisa Biagiotti.
The film is an overview of the crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where more than 5 million people have died and many are still fleeing. Krauss' video centers on one couple and follows their story of flight.
Krauss' work expands beyond the Congo. Most of it takes place in what Krauss calls "our backyard": Rwanda.
"The reason I can be doing this work is because I am a Jew," Krauss says. Krauss graduated from Brophy College Preparatory, a Catholic high school in Phoenix, in 1998 and was one of a few Jewish boys that attended. He said that going to such a religious school forced him to confront his own Jewish ideology because he had to represent a whole religion.
"I had to explain kashrut in Orthodox, in Reform, you name it. I had to explain different rationalities," says Krauss.
Krauss went on to Yale University, where his ideas for Voices of Rwanda are rooted. In the research archives at Yale, there are recorded testimonies from Holocaust survivors. While working on a film on World War II after college, Krauss realized that the Holocaust parallels the genocide in Rwanda and that survivor stories from Rwanda must be recorded just like those of the Holocaust. He decided to go to Rwanda in 2004 and says he wanted to "understand how this could happen in my lifetime. I needed to confront myself: 'How are we letting this happen?'
"I thought, 'I'm trained as a documentary filmmaker. I need to contribute.' We've inherited the history of the Holocaust. (Voices of Rwanda exists) to create an archive for research purposes."
During his first trip to Rwanda, Krauss collected stories from survivors of the genocide. He says that the parallels between the Rwandan experience and the Holocaust were clear; when he would explain to Rwandans that he was a Jew, they would respond, "Oh, OK, you understand." Krauss emphasizes that being Jewish made it easy to relate to the survivors, and easier for them to tell him their stories. He said that in some regard, they feel that there is a shared history.
Inspired by the archives at Yale, Krauss has collected many Rwandan survivors' testimonies; he officially founded Voices of Rwanda in 2006.
The organization's office is now located in Kigali, Rwanda, and a satellite office is located in Brooklyn, N.Y. Beyond what he has already done, Krauss plans to build an archive in Rwanda for the survivors as well as the wider Rwandan population. He would also like to see an archive in the United States, most likely housed at a university. The archive would be used for research purposes, open to the public, students and professors.
Another goal of his is to increase education on genocide at the middle and high school level. "Children will grow up learning what leads to genocide," says Krauss. "Not through horrific narratives but by personal stories."
Krauss strongly believes in the moving power of an individual testimony.
"Being with one individual who speaks for 10 hours is the most meaningful work to me. I recognize that they want to share for 10 hours. And being there for that person is what means the most to me," Krauss says.
With organizations such as Save Darfur, All for Africa, Voices of Rwanda and many more, the need for help is now being recognized. Krauss says, "The younger community is relating to the world in a different way. Our sense of social justice is different, and we contribute in ways that maybe our ancestors didn't."
When asked what advice he might give to those looking to make a difference, Krauss has a simple answer.
"Seek the work that is meaningful to you," he says. He makes it clear that he has been given the opportunity to help, not the other way around. "It doesn't feel right to not do something with that opportunity," he says.
"If you care about these issues, then you have to make changes in your life."
He believes that it is a Jewish obligation to be listening to survivors in Rwanda. "We will be committing the same mistakes if we are not listening," says Krauss. "The retelling of the Holocaust is exactly the reason I am here."
