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On Listening to Holocaust Survivors: Recounting and Life History

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Most texts concerning the collection of Holocaust testimony seem to indicate that large-scale work is best, that the experiences of the many can be distilled into one message about the event. But Henry Greenspan, a University of Michigan psychologist, feels differently: he believes strongly that the term "recounting" "better connotes the provisional and processual nature of retelling" (xvii), and therefore, he thinks, talking again and again to the same few people yields more noteworthy results and information. This philosophy, spelled out clearly and easily for even the reader unfamiliar with the field of Holocaust testimony-taking, makes "On Listening to Holocaust Survivors" both compelling and important, and provides a uniquely fresh perspective on the Holocaust and those who survived it.

Having listened myself, again and again, to the stories of several Holocaust survivors I have been and am privileged to know, I can attest to the strength of this important book, even as the numbers of survivors dwindle.

I bought this book on the eve of an important last trip to a lifelong friend, a survivor, whose birthday I shared, and who (because of that, and much more) called me her "adopted kid."

There are many important messages here. But one of the most key is that for survivors, healing comes through their repetition, to sympathetic listeners, of the horrible details of their suffering. Very often, the minutia are precisely the same, down to the very words.

And yet, at times, little points, never before made, are uttered for the first time, releasing a burden carried for 60 years, or more.

The benefits, for both tellers and listeners, are beyond description. Listening is the greatest gift one can give these heroes and heroines--and to oneself. For those able to grant it, giving this gift is also one of the greatest possible mitzvot.

--Alyssa A. Lappen

Every individual story is part of a greater piece of a puzzle. "On Listening to Holocaust Survivors: Beyond Testimony" is the work of Henry Greenspan, looking into the deeper story behind the testimony of many Holocaust survivors and what it has told him about the atrocity and humanity as a whole. Stating that more history is learned through conversation rather than a one sided testimony, "On Listening to Holocaust Survivors" is an insightful and thoughtful addition to any Holocaust studies collection.