Memories of occupation in Greece is a project supported by the German Foreign Ministry, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, the Erinnerung Foundation, Verantwortung und Zukunft and the Freie Universität Berlin. The project collected and archived audiovisual testimonies about the German occupation of Greece (1941-44). To this end, a total of 93 interviews were conducted in Greece with witnesses from this period, including members of resistance organizations, hidden children, Jewish Holocaust survivors, concentration camp prisoners, witnesses of reprisals and other people who lived through the painful period of the war. different ways. The interviews have been digitized and made accessible on a trilingual web portal and are available for research, education and training purposes.
What was the methodology you used when designing and organizing the survivor interviews?
Investigators follow the biographical and narrative method described by Dr. Alexander von Plato (an internationally recognized authority on oral history and one of Germany’s leading oral historians). Interviewees have the opportunity to tell their whole life story without interruption, setting their own priorities and following an associative or chronological structure as they see fit. This is done in the first (open) stage of the interview, which is introduced by the general question: “Could you please tell us your life story?”
Although the main research interest of the “Memories of the Occupation of Greece” project is the period of occupation, the interviews conducted cover the entire lives of contemporary witnesses. This decision to conduct biographical interviews was made because of the importance of the subject’s character and history prior to the occupation in understanding their behavior and actions during the occupation. Memories of the post-occupation period are important because the experience has an effect on the individual’s entire life.
Can you briefly describe how the interviews took place?
The interviewers prepare thoroughly for the interview. They have extensive knowledge of the German occupation of Greece and have been briefed on the particular circumstances of the person to be interviewed, allowing them to understand each life story in its complexity. Additionally, investigators prepare questions to help understand each individual’s biography and events that occurred during the occupation. As a matter of principle, interviews are conducted with respect and empathy.
Photos, documents or artifacts are examined together to bring memories back to life. After the interview, the interviewer completes a short biography and interview protocol with a description of the interview situation. The interview subject receives a written copy of the interview.