Those Who Were There: Voices from the Holocaust

by Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies

Survivors and witnesses of the Holocaust are the subjects of “Those Who Were There,” a new podcast from Yale University’s Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies. The podcast is narrated by Eleanor Reissa, actress and Yiddish theater director, and historical oversight by Professor Samuel Kassow.

“Those Who Were There” podcast features audio from videotaped interviews conducted between 1979 up to the present. "Back in 1979, video was regarded as a remarkable, groundbreaking technology for documenting the experiences of survivors. The testimonies that resulted were and remain very powerful,” said Stephen Naron, director of the Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies. “Today, by adapting our holdings to the podcast format, we have an opportunity to bring these intimate personal accounts of Holocaust survivors and witnesses to a world-wide listenership. After all, only a fraction of our more than 4,400 testimonies have ever been viewed. Every voice, every story is important, and the podcast is a chance to provide a public space for each survivor, one episode at a time.”
The podcast’s first season will feature 10 episodes, including accounts from Jewish survivors, non-Jewish witnesses and liberators. The memories shared express a wide range of experiences before, during and after the Second World War by those who experienced it. Still, it is only a small glimpse into the thousands of stories held in this diverse archive.

Recent Episodes

Episodes loading...

Recent Reviews

Nyny/nyzoly

I understand

I understand how sad this is and I hate racism thank you for explaining this to us and I hate how it is happening again to Ukraine and Germany
CalvinCampbell

The Human Spirit

A glorious testament to the unrelenting force of the human spirit.
🇳🇪ghh

I hate hitler

I’m glad that this does not happen anymore and I like how it has multiple speakers talk. I love
coolhand luke 21

Wow

Just…wow
lkak

My most important podcast

Humbled and grateful.
Bengal Kat the Cat

So good but so sad

I love this podcast. It’s sad but it’s so important not to forget. Everyone should listen to this.
LEM7538!

Unimaginable firsthand accounts

The stories these survivors tell although unimaginable, are invaluable for every human being to be knowledgeable of. How such cruelty could exist for so many innocent and harmless people is still so hard for many to comprehend. The stories told here are insightful, touching, and above all promising and at it’s root - how strong these survivors were. May we all learn from this podcast.
Guarddreamer

Hard, but NECESSARY.

With all of the hatred, racism, and prejudice occurring across the world, it is important to hear, first hand, the horrific reality of such segregation. Please listen to this oral history with reverence and a desire to change.
National Park lover

Mind Expanding and Inspiring

To hear the testimonies of those who lived through and survived the Holocaust gives me reason to appreciate freedom and motivates me to be compassionate toward others in todays world ✝️🙏🏻👤🌵🐕🏌️🌅🇺🇸
Ladykayaker

Heartbreaking and interesting

The voices of these people tell a traumatic story that I just can’t believe they were able to live through. They are all so strong and tell their story that just amazes me. How they survived the conditions and abuse is astonishing. How they found family afterwards is such a miracle. We must never forget. I am constantly learning.
Charlie3gc

Life affirming interviews

Moving heart breaking descriptions of the horrors of the Holocaust are not expected to be life affirming. But that is the feeling I get after listening. Strength, perseverance, faith and hope are the traits each of the people interviewed convey.
ChefGoyo

Moving and relevant today!

It is so hard to imagine, listening to these story’s, what absolute inhumanity these survivors lived through. Thank you for this documentary series. Also... If you care, please educate yourself and speak out against the Uighur genocide!
lazycops

So well done.

Please post more! We need to hear every one’s experience.
KGouhld

Thank you

This podcast is so moving. Listening to their stories transports you back in time and you can do nothing but listen solemnly and intently to the horrific things these poor people were subjected to and how they bravely persevered.
RavenBishop

More Important Than Ever

The world has been especially turned upside down the past few years in ways that are hard to comprehend. An important tool for living through such times hope, which is simply the willingness to maintain a vision of a better future. The very act of making plans for the future is an exercise in hope. We cannot predict the future, but we can study the past. This series is an incredibly valuable resource, made all the more important as we try and survive the fallout of an international political, economic, and environmental policy structure that has placed profits over people for the better part of a century. The lessons of the Holocaust extend far beyond one country, one point in time. Hitler admired the American system of racial segregation. While the Trump Administration is no Third Reich, the use of racial divisions and othering is comparable to those of the Nazis.
Anita1213

Moving accounts

Absolutely moving. In a time when so many ugly political trends are reasserting themselves, it's vitally important to hear these stories, and to hear them told by the people who actually lived them. Accounts told to us by third parties could never come close to communicating the horrors of the Holocaust. The range of perspectives — survivors, liberators, etc. -- also helps to provide a more well rounded understanding of this shocking historical period. Everyone must listen and subscribe!
Cyberlearn

A MOVING AND EXQUISITELY PRODUCED PODCAST

I will be listening to every one of your podcasts and I hope thousands of others do the same. I will tell my friends via social media. If I may make one additional comment: in the intro podast the narrator says that the Holocaust was the worst genocide of its kind in history. Sadly, this isn't true. Stalin intentionally, deliberately and willully murdered over six million Ukranians, men, women and children, in a 24 month period in '32-33. Some scholars put the number at 12 million. Ukranians call it Holodomor, which means to kill by starvation. Mao did the same also in a 24 month period in the early '50's. The figure six million is used but, again, scholars believe it was a much higher number. None of this is mean to detract in any way for the important and moving podcast series you have started.