Skip to Content
Citation: 

Greenspan, Henry. "From Testimony to Recounting: Reflections from Forty Years of Listening to Holocaust Survivors." In Beyond Testimony and Trauma: Oral History in the Aftermath of Mass Violence, edited by Steven High, 141-69. Vancouver: UBC Press, 2015.

Abstract/Summary: 

Greenspan’s chapter examines his forty years of experience working with Holocaust survivors, particularly the work that has been conducted collaboratively between researchers and survivors, focusing on their testimony, trauma and memory. Greenspan cites the importance of “sustained conversation,” “genuine dialogue,” “collaborative witnessing,” “compassionate listening,” and being “genuine partners in conversation” when Holocaust survivors retell their experiences. It may be too late to redo some of the interviews in this manner, but it is “not too late to rethink” how to do such interviews in more caring, meaningful ways in the future.

Source/Credit: 
Shannon Leggett