COMMENTARY
WIG WORKS
INTERNATIONAL
DIRECTOR from page 28
standard." In what reality are such
horrific images standard?
We must avoid the danger of over-
exposing ourselves to descriptions and
visuals of Holocaust atrocities to the
point of desensitization, and not for-
get that most of the world has not
even heard of Auschwitz.
Dr. Bolkosky also includes editorial
comment about the Shoah Founda-
tion's interviews (calling them the
"Spielberg interviews," perhaps to dif-
ferentiate between those interviews
conducted by his own oral history
project through the University of
Michigan-Dearborn).
He complains that it is a "convention
to conclude the [Shoah Foundation] tes-
timonies with uplifting family scenes
and a sense of joy and survival." In actu-
ality, the so-called "convention" is a
short period of time at the end of each
interview during which the survivor's
family members — spouse, children, •
grandchildren, great-grandchildren —
are invited to join the survivor on cam-
era and offer their thoughts.
After having worked with the
Shoah Foundation to videotape over
50,000 testimonies, I can honestly say
that these moments are some of the
most insightful, painful and meaning-
ful, not only to the viewers of today
and of future generations, but perhaps
more importantly, to the survivors and
their families.
To become glib about Holocaust
oral history, and to deny survivors the
opportunity to redefine themselves as
they exist today, is to once again rob
the survivors of their identity.
With all due respect to Professor
Bolkosky, who has made undeniably
valuable contributions in his field, I
can only hope that Holocaust scholars
and others who dedicate themselves to
memorializing the Holocaust avoid at
all costs reducing the event to a com-
partmentalized specialty.
It would be wrong to presume that
because one is familiar with Holocaust
imagery, all are familiar with such
imagery. It would be wrong to pre-
sume that because one is familiar with
the narrative of the Holocaust, all are
familiar with that narrative, and that
that narrative then loses its power to
move emotionally and to inform intel-
lectually.
Those involved in the preservation
of history, including filmmakers like
me, have an obligation to preserve
more than facts and figures. It is imper-
ative that we capture humanity, giving
future generations an opportunity to
become enriched from the past. I I
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Classified section
of
The Jewish News
3/19
1999
Detroit Jewish News
31