On listening to Holocaust survivors

Greenspan is a consulting psychologist and a playwright, who has taught and written about Holocaust survivors' testimonies. This book summarizes 30 years of his interviews and re-interviews with a core group of survivors, in accordance with his approach that it is important to have the survivor recount his/her story again and again. Pt. I (pp. 3-56), "Initiations", discusses how to listen to survivors in an engaged manner. Recommends listening for the process rather than the text; the former reflects memories from the survivor's wider life and the dissolution of these memories in the Holocaust. Pt. II (pp. 59-172), "Voices, Stories, Enactments", consists of an imaginary conversation or collage composed of selections from multiple interviews with seven survivors, combined with interpretation by the author. Stresses the interaction of survivors and listeners, concluding that there need be no other purpose than to listen to survivors (in the engaged way described) in their struggle to express meaning. (From the Bibliography of the Vidal Sassoon International Center for the Study of Antisemitism - The Hebrew University of Jerusalem)