From Testimony to Story

The stories of Holocaust survivors and others who were persecuted by the Nazis are an invaluable resource for understanding what effect persecution had on victims and how they dealt with this experience over time. In recent decades, researchers in many countries began videotaping contemporary witnesses as they told their stories, allowing their voices to be heard, when personal encounters are no longer possible. In the interviews, biographical narratives and personal memories are used to document the mass crimes committed by the Nazis and also to illuminate how survivors processed these memories in their lifetime. This multi-faceted historical source poses special challenges to educational work. This volume reflects international developments, trends and debates about the videotaped contemporary witness interviews and their digital archives. Different interview collections and educational approaches from Israel, the Czech Republic, Poland and Germany are presented. These essays document the exchange that took place between education experts from these four countries as part of the series Entdecken und Verstehen. Bildungsarbeit mit Zeugnissen von Opfern des Nationalsozialismus ("Discovering and Understanding: Educational Work with Testimonials from Victims of National Socialism") that was initiated and organized by the Foundation EVZ in 2010 and 2011.