Refugee Voices

Refugee Voices is the AJR’s audio-visual testimony project featuring interviews with 150 Holocaust survivors and refugees speaking about their experiences of living in and fleeing Nazi-occupied Europe and their transitions to life in Britain.

Scheduled to be completed in autumn 2007, the resource will include fully transcribed, edited and catalogued interviews as well as collection of contemporary photographs and memorabilia. Each testimony is time-coded, which together with the transcript, will enable a researcher to find a precise section of the interview.

The AJR intends to use the recorded testimonies to provide valuable educational material to future generations so that they can access first hand information and learn about the horrors of the Holocaust.

In the words of our project director, “We set out to create a valuable and historically important archive, to capture the memories of Jewish refugees for future generations.”

Unlike other collections, Refugee Voices includes interviews with survivors and refugees with contrasting experiences during the Second World War, from those incarcerated in ghettos or concentration camps as well as hidden child, Kindertransport and former slave labourers.

A truly national collection, the project includes interviews with survivors and refugees living throughout Great Britain. As well as recording for history the experiences of refugees, the project seeks to draw out how refugees and survivors adapted to life in Britain and, most importantly, their contribution to this country. The success and achievements of interviewees varies considerably and ranges from a milkman to a double-Oscar winner. Also included are interviews with those who fled to Shanghai or Palestine, one with a refugee who was shipped to Denmark from Sweden as well as members of the orthodox community, who have rarely spoken about their experiences.

Themes explored in the project include: Living in Nazi Germany; Living in the surrounding countries; Escape; Arriving in a new country; Learning a new language; Leaving relatives; Learning to live with the past; Internment; Life in Britain during the war; and Britain post war. Additional themes that can be explored in more depth include: Learning about different experiences; Diversity in the communities around us; and Understanding refugees.

To help promote the resource we have produced a 40 minute film called Moments and Memories which gives a taster of Refugee Voices. The film takes excerpts from 13 of the interviews and helps frame the project. To order a copy of Moments and Memories, click here.