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| Name: | Werkstatt der Erinnerung |
| Translated Name: | Workshop of Memory |
| Affiliation: | Forschungsstelle für Zeitgeschichten in Hamburg |
| ADDRESS: | Schulterblatt 36
Hamburg 20357 |
| COUNTRY: | Germany |
| TELEPHONE NUMBER: | +(49-40) 43 13 97-20
+(49-40) 43 13 97-26 |
| FAX: | +(49-40) 43 13 97-40 |
| EMAIL: | apel@fzh.uni-hamburg.de |
| WEBSITE: | http://www.werkstatt-der-erinnerung.de |
| OPERATING HOURS: | Monday - Friday 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. |
| CONTACT PERSON(S): | Primary Contact:
Dr. Linde Apel, Director
Phone: + (49-40) 43 13 97-26
Email: apel@fzh.uni-hamburg.de
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| GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION: | The project Hamburg Biographies – Memory Workshop (Werkstatt der Erinnerung) was created in 1989 at the Institute for Contemporary History in Hamburg (Forschungsstelle für Zeitgeschichte in Hamburg). Its initial goal was to take the testimonies of Hamburg citizens who were persecuted by the Nazis, and to share those memories with the public. Over the last 16 years the Hamburg Memory Workshop has grown to include over 1,000 interviews, making it one of the largest oral history archives in Germany. The Institute for Contemporary History in Hamburg is the successor to the Institute for the History of National Socialism in Hamburg. The change of name, which took place in 1997, reflects an increasing emphasis on post-war German history. |
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| OVERVIEW OF ORAL HISTORY COLLECTION: | The collection contains interviews with historical witnesses to German history. The main focus has been the experiences of those persecuted under the Nazi dictatorship—particularly German Jews, but also those persecuted for political, social, sexual or religious reasons, and those who suffered forced sterilization or forced labour. Most of the interviews with Jewish survivors were conducted in conjunction with the Jewish Visitors’ Program (Besucherprogramm) that is organised by the City Government of Hamburg. This program invites Hamburg-born Jews from all over the world to return to their former home city. Most of the other interviews in the collection were conducted by individual researchers as part of specific oral history projects. While the majority of the interviews relate to the Nazi era, there are also a growing number of interviews relating to post-war German history. These cover themes such as post-war reconstruction, immigration to Germany, and the social and political changes of the 1960s and ‘70s.
Most interviews are conducted as biographical, open narratives; interviewees are asked to talk about their memories of childhood, their parents’ homes, their youth and adult life. In a second phase, questions are asked on the basis of the first narrative to deepen and expand on certain recollections. If the interview is conducted within particular research parameters, the interviewer will generally ask specific questions at the end of the interview. |
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| Collect Holocaust Oral Histories: | Yes. |
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| Interview Guidelines: | None. |
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| Additional Information: | Many interviews were conducted on condition of anonymity. Interviews are anonymized by giving the interviewee a pseudonym and changing identifying personal details that occur in the interview. |
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| Project Complete: | Information Not Available. |
| Year of First Interview: | 1979 |
| Year of Last Interview: | Information Not Available. |
| Interviews Per Year: | ca. 50 |
| Average Hours Per Interview: | 3 |
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| RECORDING METHOD | |
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| Audio: | Yes. |
| Number of Audio Hours: | ca. 2,000 |
| Total Number of Audio Interviews: | 983 |
| Number of Audio Reel-To-Reel Interviews: | 30 |
| Number of Audiocassette Interviews: | 953 |
| Number of Interviews in Other Audio Formats: | Information Not Available. |
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| Video: | Yes. |
| Number of Video Hours: | 60 |
| Total Number of Video Interviews: | 24 |
| Number of 1/2-inch Betacam-SP Interviews: | 3 |
| Number of 3/4-inch U-matic Interviews: | 10 |
| Number of 1/2-inch VHS interviews: | 11 |
| Number of Film interviews: | N/A |
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| RULES: | |
| Access to Collection: | Open. Information Not Available. |
| Special Requirements for Access or Use: | Users have, at present, access only to interview transcripts. They may read these and take notes at the Institute. Special permission is required in order to photocopy all or parts of transcripts. |
| Notice Required to Pull Tapes or Reserve Facility: | Advance notice of 4–5 working days is required in order to view transcripts. It is not yet possible for users to access audio or video tapes. At present, the precedure for public use of the archive is as follows: Users submit an enquiry to the Werkstatt several days before they intend to visit. Werkstatt employees then search their database for interviews relevant to the user’s particular field of interest. These interviews are drawn from the archive and made available to the user when they visit the Werkstatt. |
| Access Fee: | No. |
| Research Services: | No. |
| Research Fee: | N/A |
| Research Services Requirements: | N/A |
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| Permission Required for Use of Material in | |
| Publications: | No. |
| Classrooms: | No. |
| Public Lectures: | No. |
| Documentaries: | No. |
| How To Obtain permission: | N/A |
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| RESOURCES | |
| Format of Collection | |
| Video/Audio: | No. |
| Transcripts: | Yes. |
| Other: | Interview summaries and short interviewee biographies. |
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| On-Site Equipment | |
| Audio: | No. |
| Video: | No. |
| Users Can Bring Their Own: | No. |
| Other: | Yes. |
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| Finding Aids | |
| Guide to Collection Available: | No. |
| Published: | N/A |
| Guide Cost: | N/A |
| Address to Obtain Guide: | N/A |
| Additional Information: | N/A |
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| Transcripts | |
| Audio: | 953. |
| Video: | 24. |
| Available for photocopying: | 24. |
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| Summaries | |
| Summarized: | Yes. |
| Available for Photocopying: | Yes. |
| Available on Disk: | No. |
| Other: | Information Not Available. |
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| Indices | |
| Tapes Indexed: | No. |
| Transcripts Indexed: | Yes. |
| Summaries Indexed: | No. |
| Indices Available for Photocopying: | Yes. |
| Indices Available on Disk: | Information Not Available. |
| Other: | The database is currently being redeveloped. Once completed, it is intended to allow limited public access to the database via the website, www.werkstatt-der-erinnerung.de |
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| Cataloging Information | |
| Collection Cataloged: | Yes. |
| Available on Computer: | Yes. |
| Other: | N/A |
| MARC Format: | No. |
| MARC Format Type: | Information Not Available. |
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| Internet Resources | |
| Web Address: | Information Not Available. |
| Transcripts: | No. |
| Summaries: | No. |
| Catalog: | No. |
| Indices: | No. |
| Interview Clips: | Information Not Available. |
| Other: | Not accessible via the WWW. |
| Additional Information: | They are currently redeveloping their database. Once completed, they intend to allow limited public access to the databank via the website, www.werkstatt-der-erinnerung.de |
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| Bibliographic Information | |
| Belong to: | No. |
| OCLC: | N/A |
| RLIN: | N/A |
| Other: | N/A |
| Plan to Join: | No. |
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| Loan or Purchase | |
| Material Available Through Interlibrary Loan: | No. |
| Loan by other collection: | No. |
| Loan Fee: | N/A |
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| DETAIL ABOUT COLLECTION CONTENT | |
| Demographic Information about Interviewees: | |
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| Total Number: | |
| Total Female: | Information Not Available. |
| Total Male: | 391 |
| No Data: | 240 |
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Female |
Male |
Total |
Other Information |
| Jews: | 223 | 232 | 455 | (1) |
| Roma and/or Sinti: | 3 | 1 | 4 | Yes. |
| Political Prisoners: | 62 | 76 | 138 | Yes. |
| Prisoners of War: | | | | Information Not Available. |
| Jehovah’s Witnesses: | | | | Information Not Available. |
| Homosexual Men/Lesbian Women: | 2 | 4 | 6 | Yes. |
| Resisters: | 7 | 5 | 12 | Yes. |
| Partisans: | | | | Information Not Available. |
| Rescuers: | | | | Information Not Available. |
| Refugees: | 149 | 178 | 327 | (2) |
| Liberators: | | | | Information Not Available. |
| Prosecutors: | | | | Information Not Available. |
| Perpetrators/ Collaborators: | 28 | 32 | 60 | (3) |
| Refugee Relief Workers: | | | | Information Not Available. |
| Other: | 7 | 13 | 20 | Displaced Persons |
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| Additional Information: | (1) There is some overlap between this and other catagories, e.g., refugees and displaced persons.
(2) The figures given here are for Jewish refugees who fled Germany between 1933 and 1945.The archive also holds interviews with German refugees who fled to western Germany at the end of the war (see below).
(3) These include interviews on the following themes: Hitler Youth, Women’s experience of the Nazi era, ‘Volkssturm’ (youth soldiers), and social adaptation.
Other:
Relatives of euthanasia victims: women(3); men (3); Total (6)
‘Anti-socials’: women (6); men (1);Total (7)
Forced sterilization: women (6); men (1); Total (7)
Deserters: women (0); men (2); Total (2)
Swing music movement: women (6); men (15); Total (21)
German refugees and expellees: women (7); men (14); Total (21) |
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| Focus of Collection: | |
| Ghetto(s) | | |
| Camp(s) | | |
| Geographic Area(s) |  | Hamburg and the surrounding area |
| Experience(s) | | |
| Survivor Group(s) | | |
| Other | | |
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| Additional Information: | Information Not Available. |
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Museum