Researching Holocaust survivors in Greece through VHA PhDr. Kateřina Králová, Ph.D.

Greece: Holocaust Related Testimonies  VHA – USC Shoah Foundation  Yad Vashem Archives (payed)  USHMM Audio Collection (largely accessible online)  Fortunoff Video Archive (anonymized, on campus)  Centropa (disappearing)  Jewish Museum of Greece (available only at the JMG)  Database of Greek-Jewish Holocaust Survivors' Testimonies

Visual History Archive Online USC Shoah Foundation  about 51,000 audiovisual testimonies (life stories)  survivors of the Holocaust and other genocides  56 countries / 31 languages GREECE (32 Greek locations, 11 languages):  Born in Greece: 607 (male 303 / female 304)  Recorded in Greece (299) and elsewhere (308)  BUT: Born in Ottoman empire (today's Greece): 54  Born outside GR / Ottoman empire BUT living in p-w GR (Yugo, Egypt, Rhodes, Kos, CS ?)

VHA Interviews & data Search  Experience Groups Search  Index Search  People Search  Places Search Periodization  “Greece ” (the end of Greek Civil War)  “Greece ” (beginning of the Junta)  “Greece ” (the rule of the Junta)  “Greece ” (the era of political consolidation)  “Greece ” Indexing terms  Geographical  Historical  Famous names  Famous institutions Pros / contras  Distant access to some data (+)  Not accessing the full interview  Not having data on the interviewers  Not having enough / exact keywords (-)  Problem of language transcription / transliteration (-)

VHA Experience Group Search Biographical Information (6)  Name of interviewee  Gender of interviewee  Date of Birth of interviewee  City of Birth of interviewee  Country of Birth of interviewee  Religious Affiliations of interviewee Interview Information (4)  State of interview  Country of interview  Language of interview  Length of interview Experiences (10)  Ghettos  Concentration Camps  Hiding, Flight, Resistance, Forced Marches  Location of Hiding or False Identity  Type of Hiding Place  Resistance Groups  Liberated by  Location of Liberation  Aid Giver, Liberator, War Crimes Trials Participant  Other Experiences

VHA Example: Kos / Rhodes Alias: Sultana Levi Gender Female Date of Birth Sep 17, 1918 City of Birth Bodrum (Turkey) Country of Birth Ottoman Empire Ghetto(s) / Camp(s): Auschwitz (Poland : Concentration Camp) Dachau (Germany : Concentration Camp) Haidari (Greece : Concentration Camp) Landsberg (Bavaria, Germany : Concentration Camp) Location of Liberation: Dachau (Germany : Concentration Camp) Liberated by: United States armed forces Location of Interview: Gauteng, South Africa Language of Interview: English

Other research related problems 1)Insufficient language knowledge 2)Quality of indexing 3)Lack of a metadatabase 4)Absence of software for storing diverse data forms 5)National legislations on personal data & copyright

Metadatabase

Notice board

What would help me out?  Translator for recordings  Improvement of searching systems  Creation of a universal metadatabase  Provision of a suitable software  Interconnection of existing systems  Lobbying for common legislation  more interdisciplinary communication

Thank you for your attention! Kateřina Králová