The Refugee Voices Oral Histories present us with a unique ‘history from below’, narrated by individuals who experienced major historical and political events in the 1930s and 1940s and whose lives were profoundly affected by these events. The interviews give us a unique opportunity to learn about the multi-facetted pre-war and post-war lives of the interviewees and to find out how they have coped with the experiences of persecution, separation, loss, adaptation, and settlement in the UK. Through the narrated story, photographs, and documents, we can understand the wider cultural context of the interviewees and their close circle, as evidenced for example in often moving correspondence with parents and relatives, many of whom did not survive.

Some interviewees have told their story for the first time, some have told it many times before. When the family receives a copy of the interview, I have been told many times that the interview contains stories that the children have never heard before. The Refugee Voices Archive is grateful to all the interviewees who invited us to their homes and shared their life histories.  

In one recent interview, the interviewee showed us her autograph book. In it we found the following entry by one of her teachers: ‘Die Erinnerung ist ein Paradies aus dem wir nicht vertrieben warden koennen’ (memory is a paradise from which we cannot be banished).

While most interviewees were banished from their homelands, their memories remained. The Refugee Voices Archive will ensure that their memories will be preserved, disseminated, and passed on to the next generations. We would like to invite students, scholars, educators and the general public to critically engage with the Refugee Voices oral history testimonies and by doing so to create a lasting legacy for the future.  

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-- Dr Bea Lewkowicz

Read more about the project here.