Survivors of the Shoah Steven Spielberg’s (Interactive Web site)

Every face you see is a "life" and fortunately in the case of survivors, these lives were spared from the Holocaust. They have lived to tell about it and what happened to them. They give testimony to all generations that exist because of their existence. But there also exists a vacuum by those who perished. This global devastation did happen and will happen again only in microcosm.
-Steven Spielberg "Survivors of the Shoah"


Renowned film director, Steven Spielberg, believes that there is an incessant demand for change that characterizes our time. What is occurring now is the greatest change in the whole history of mankind, this is a revolution so fundamental that we must search past centuries for a parallel. This lifetime is different from all others because of the astonishing expansion of the scale and scope of change. Boundaries have burst and networks of computers have been woven so tightly that events radiate instantaneously around the world through the web in real time. Not only do contemporary events radiate instantaneously-now we can feel the impact of all past events in a new way. The past is doubling back in upon us. History is catching up with us. This acceleration and transient nature penetrates our consciousness in rapidly different ways, how we relate to people, the universe of ideas, art and values. By accelerating our pace we have broken with the past. We have cut ourselves off from the old ways of thinking, feeling and adapting. We have set the stage for a completely new society and now are racing towards it. We must learn how to alter the texture of existence by exorcising our lives of the old ways of thinking, feeling and adapting.


By 1945 eleven million human being were exterminated, 6 million Jews, two-thirds of the European Jewish population. Steven Spielberg states that while he was creating "Survivors of the Shoah"he could not predict the impact it would have. When he researched the experiences and reactions of the survivors, he felt that each story was unique and compelling. The reason he chose to record as many survivor testimonies as possible was to make them accessible for education. He quotes an ancient Jewish proverb "If you rescue one soul you rescue the whole world." He quotes from his video on the making of "Survivors of the Shoah" that by creating a CD to record and preserve Survivor testimonies future generations might benefit. The user will not only be able to navigate through history and eye witness accounts, but the CD and Website will enable individuals of all ages to interact with the past.


There are setbacks inherent in producing many of survivor testimonies. Spielberg states in his video that most survivors are well into their late 70’s and 80’s and he and other dedicated historians, filmakers, editors and computer technologists are in a race against time. All have come together for this ambitious goal. By doing these interviews, Spielberg he states that he is collecting the "source" that historians use to recreate our past. He also believes that the interviews with the survivors are not only historic but journalistic as well, taking the best from each division. As for the Interactive site (whether website or museum installation), when the user clicks the mouse instantly they hear the story of a survivor or a child of a survivor (2nd generation). The story comes out of the interview and the sound. Some survivors had lives of nightmares and dislocation. The interactive piece of archiving testimonies gives us all an album of snapshot of their lives and it also gives the children of survivors a chance to give their deceased parents and relatives a proper burial.


History meets technology and the cataloging process in "Survivors of the Shoah" There is a marriage between technology, library science and history. It is also accessible to education in a variety of ways. This interactive website and museum installation indexes the content of every interview. This system allows the user to locate a testimony about a specific topic mentioned. "Survivors of the Shoah" is the most groundbreaking distribution and backboning of archival material with real-time access.


Spielberg is working towards placing computers in Museums, Universities and Holocaust Organizations around the world, giving individuals primary access to the entire archive of testimonies. This interactive world of faces from yesterday, today and tomorrow will be housed in an interactive installation that can be accessed years from now. These survivors are speaking the online language of documentary. You are watching a living document of one’s experiences.


In conclusion, Spielberg believes that this research needs to be taught in schools. He believes that the lessons of tolerance or the subject of racial hatred which it encompasses (the holocaust and the A-bomb )are stories about hatred and intolerance. He also felt that his "duty" was to take the photos and video that were given to him, thereby creating a way to document their truth and share those experiences with anyone who wanted to learn about these stories voluntarily.

© Copyright 1997 Denise Urban