The Power of Testimonies in Holocaust History

The use of oral and written testimony can and often does have a powerful impact when studying the history of the Holocaust. Words have the power to create or destroy, encourage or suppress, calm or energize. They can spread hate or love, clarity or confusion. Sometimes words don't tell whole truths and can be misleading as in the case of some fraudulent “pseudo-memoirs” and “doctored” or misleading documents. However, the use of testimonies are great sources for studying the history of the Holocaust. They provide a personal account allowing us to empathize with the victims and most importantly, learn from the horrors of the past.

The spoken word has the ability to bring to life and humanize the voices and experiences of individual Holocaust victims, many of whom might otherwise have been forgotten with the passing of time. The written word preserves the memory of those who suffered and commemorates those who have perished during this most tragic period in human history. Testimonies help to keep the memory alive by leaving a lasting impression on the mind of the reader or listener, and allowing one time to reflect and remember the harrowing events of the Holocaust.

Testimonies allow future generations to read, hear and learn from the people who experienced, witnessed, or perpetrated the genocidal policies and crimes of the Nazis and their collaborators. These testimonies are valuable resources which can enhance our understanding of the Holocaust and related issues. Oral testimonies provide listeners glimpses into the history of the Holocaust that cannot be obtained from documents or written records. While textual documents are essential for the study of the Holocaust, an individual’s testimony can supplement those document...

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...ch Security Main Office, to draw up a complete plan for the “final solution of the Jewish question.” Heydrich then hosted a secret conference on January 20, 1942 to coordinate the plan. It was held in Berlin at a Wannsee villa used by the Reich Security Main Office as a guest house and conference center. The fifteen participants, high-ranking representatives of the SS, the NSDAP, and the government, approved a program of annihilation that was actually already well under way.13 The protocol was drawn up by Adolf Eichmann at the behest and under the control of his boss, Reinhard Heydrich, who instructed Eichmann to “cook” the protocol to reflect what he wanted to preserve as a record of the meeting. It was the testimony of Eichmann at his trial that exposed the truth in regards to the protocol of how it was written and the discussion held at the Wannsee meeting.