A Gathering of Voices

War. Such a short word with so much controversy. There are endless reasons the government will find to use battle. Fighting is a means to gain freedom or revenge. However, history tends to think otherwise. In the Holocaust, the heartless Nazi's tried to banish the Jewish people. The survivors of the Holocaust are still struggling with the disturbing memories and lost loved ones. Although their reminiscences haunt them, the heroes of the Holocaust have not let the destruction ruin their lives. To compare the voices each victim has, I will show how different authors portray the lives of the Holocaust survivors.

Henry Greenspan used a longitudinal study, studying the same people throughout a period of time, to track the improvements the survivors made in each interview. In his book, On Listening to Holocaust Survivors, each survivor tells their own story; but the stories they tell do not come close to the experiences they faced. Survivors take on the part of being a witness and retell their memories. By becoming a narrator, each participant being interviewed will mix the two worlds; one world being their mind before the Holocaust, and the other after (Greenspan 60).

Greenspan noticed how the individuals being interviewed start the conversation. They start with their mind all rumbled together. Then as the conversation moves on, they diverge in a different direction and change their mood instantly. If the participant starts off confident, they slowly become doubtful and vice versa. There are different reactions for each survivor. Some return to their normal state, but some voices become stentorian (Greenspan 61).

One of the first survivors he studied was Rueben. After the Holocaust, Rueben talked to one of the social workers. The ...

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...the most devastating world event will always remember what they went through. They are moving on the best they can despite their memories. On the bright side, the survivors, or should I say heroes, haven't let this ruin their life.

Works Cited

Costas, Bob. "Wiesel Talks About Night and Life After the Holocaust." Readings on Night. Ed. Harry James Cargas. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, Inc, 2000. 146-56. Print.

Fridman, Ayala, et al. "Coping in Old Age with Extreme Childhood Trauma: Aging Holocaust Survivors and their Offspring Facing New Challenges." Routledge Taylor & Francis Group. 15. (2010): n. pag. Web. 21 Nov. 2013.

Greenspan, Henry. On Listening to Holocaust Survivors: Recounting and Life History. Westport: Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc, 1998. Print.

Smith, Lyn. Remembering: Voices of the Holocaust. New York: Avalon Publishing Group, Inc, 2005. Print.