The Oral History Archive of the Jewish Museum of Greece
An exhibition Installation of the JMG
The Oral History Archive (OHA) of the Jewish Museum of Greece had a small, simple beginning, just like many other things in life. The original core of the first twelve interviews was gathered in 2001-2002 for our temporary exhibition “Hidden Children in Occupied Greece”. With this first documentation, the Jewish Museum laid the foundations for the OHA, without realising then how much and how fast it would develop in just a few years.
As the survivors are gradually taken from our midst by time, the recording of their living image, expression, words, memories and thoughts take on a crucial role in the Museum’s attempt to narrate history “from below”, passing on the historical narrative from yesterday to today. Today’s visitor inevitably experiences both the immediacy and the subjectivity inherent to every testimony.
Alongside testimonies published in book form, we now also have audio and audiovisual sources, digital impressions, and the holographic representations of witnesses. The future no doubt holds more possibilities – and we are thankful for that, since these testimonies are an invaluable legacy of humanity; a repository of memory for the generations to come, and as such will always remain relevant and current.
Zanet Battinou
Director of the JMG
