Oral History, Genocide Studies, and Diasporic History: The Herero Speaking Apartheid Refugees and the Shanghai Jews
On the occasion of Holocaust Remembrance Day, Dr. Kevin Ostoyich (Valparaiso University) and Dr. Elise Pape (University of Strasbourg) discuss the importance of oral testimonies in telling lesser-known histories within genocide studies and share stories of Shanghai Jews and Herero as they embark on a shared oral history project.
Pape and Ostoyich have conducted dozens of interviews of the Herero and Shanghai Jews, respectively. Together they explore such questions as: How have the interviewees transmitted their experience of genocide or that of their ancestors over generations? What meaning(s) do the individuals detect in their experience as refugees? How do these individuals view current efforts to commemorate the genocide and/or refugee history of which they or their ancestors were a part?
This event is generously supported by the AGI Harry & Helen Gray Culture and Politics Program
