Holocaust Testimonies: The Era of the Witness from Tapes and Books to Video and Holograms

Catalog description

The core of Holocaust memory is first-person testimony, the stories of Holocaust survivors. But when did Holocaust survivors talking about their experiences become framed as 'testimony'? How should we think about the testimony of first-person witnesses - and what will we do when there are no more witnesses remaining? In this class we will explore the complexities of Holocaust testimony, beginning with the wire spool recordings that David Boder took in the DP camps, looking at how the concept has changed over the decades. We will consider the challenges of testimony, and the relationship between testimony and Holocaust memory and history. Is it a problem that survivor accounts don't always agree with historical accounts? How can we see survivors as narrators who shape their own stories over time, in recognition of their audience? We will end the course by considering contemporary technologies that let survivors share their testimony even after their deaths. We will also have a few guest lecturers speak about their own work with Holocaust testimony.