Interviewer: Jeremy Garsha
Interviewee: Celia Soudry [UCSB Freshman]
Prepared by Jeremy Garsha [2/13/03]
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Raw Transcript |
Edited Version |
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Jeremy: Let me just ask you a little about yourself first. What’s your major? Celia: Well, I’m switching to the English major. J: Okay, were you currently undeclared? C: Well, I’m dramatic arts. J: Dramatic arts, switching to English, okay. What other history have you studied, types of history? C: Well, I mean just in high school, European history and world history and US history. J: Okay, and what high school did you go to? C: Milken Community Highschool. J: Where’s that at? C: In LA. J: What type of highschool is that? C: It’s a jewish private school. J: When you were in highschool did you study the Holocaust at all, in any of your class? C: Yeah, when I was a sophmore we had an actual Holocaust class for half the year and then we went to a regular history class. We had a mandatory Jewish studies class every year, so within that the Holocaust is incorporated a little bit. J: And within this class did you guys ever have any speakers come in? C: Not yet, Nina is suppose to come in… J: I meant in the Highschool class. C: Oh, yeah well not specifically in the class, but we’ve had a few speakers come in, in an auditorium type setting, once every year at least. J: So for the four years you were in highschool you had at least a speaker every year? C: Yeah, for two years it was the same one, but yeah we heard them… J: And the whole school hears this. C: Yeah J: How big is the school? C: not big, theres about 600 kids. J: What speaker sticks out the most? C: I’m not good with names…they all stick out. All their stories are amazing, they all speak very well. I was surprised because [I thought] they would have thick accents…Most speakers were in the Holocausts, and so was my Grandma’s boyfriend and I got to talk to him a lot, one on one. It was really powerful. First hand one on one. J: And one of the speakers came twice to the school, two years in a row? C: Yeah J: Were the stories basically the same, or was it just as powerful the next time? C: It was the same…of course it wasn’t exactly the same…part of it was the first part of her life, like what was going on, and towards the end so it was like cumlative. J: When you heard all these speakers, did any of the stories seem like they overlapped…were the stories similar or were they all unique to themselves? C: Since they were all basically the same setting, like there all consentration camps, the stories were all unique, but for the most part, when we had a holocaust speaker come in, we had an idea of what they were going to talk about. J: How did you come up this that idea [of what they were going to talk about], did you guys talk about it in your holocaust class? C: Yeah, and not even in that, just like after the speaker comes in everyclass we talked about it; what she said, or what he said, basically going over it and saying our thoughts… J: If you can think back even before highschool, when was the first time you heard anything about the Holocaust?- just in general. You mentioned your grandma’s boyfriend was a survivor, was that the first time? C: No because that was in Highschool too. Before highschool, in middle school I went to it also, and I;m sure we touched on it alittle bit but I didn’t understand exactly what happened, its not until even this year that I really understood the facts and the reasons for it. It was just always there. The Holocaust happened and Jews died; that’s all I really knew. J: Did you ever see any films, way back when, or…when was the first time you touched on the holocaust in literature? IN high school did you read anne frank, or night, eli Wiesles Night? C: Yeah, I was also in Hebrew school, so in my conformation class we read night, and in highschool we read anne frank. A little bit in middle school we read primo Levi, but it was a little bit and I don’t really remember. J: What do you mean by Hebrew school, was that your highschool? C: I had to go to Hebrew school thoughtout middle school to prepare for my batmitzfah, and after that there’s a conformation class, you don’t learn Hebrew any more, you just talk about politics and the torah and stuff like that. In there we say a lot of movies about “Moshovaon [???]”, basically forcusing on Israel and the history of Israel. J: You’re from LA, have you ever visited the LA museum of Tolerance? C: Yeah J: When did you first go there. C: A long time, probably in seventh grade. J: And have you been there more than once? C: I’ve probly been there twice. Once in highschool, once in middle school. J: did you take a highschool class trip? C: Yeah. J: When you were there did you hear any speakers, or just basically do the tour? C: We just did the tour. J: So have you seen…I know that during highschool Schindler’s List came out, did you see that? C: Yeah, at home. We didn’t watch it in class. J: Did your family go with you? C: It was actually on ABC. J: SO you saw it after it was out in the theaters? C:Yeah. J: Have you seen any other Holocaust realated TV programs?…documentaries, etc. C: I’m sure I have, I just don’t remember any of the names. I’ve seen a lot of things on TV about it.
J: If you think back to the old speakers that you’ve heard, is there any one story that really sticks out, either of hope or horror? C: I can’t think of any specific [ones], but I don’t remember any exact details. J: Is there anything that’s still with you now, is basically what I;m trying to get at? C: Yeah, I always think about when I:m readaing about the holocaust or reading something, I think of an indivdual story that really stuck out to me that was really powerful. Just thinking about it actually happening. The whole separating of the familes was an image that really stuck out for me. J: Was it shocking to hear the stories the first time, or did you guys prepare for it a little bit in school? Did they prep you? C: Yeah, they did. We talked about it a lot, but obviously talking about it is completely different than hearing it first hand from the actual person that went through it. But we did talk a lot about it. So it wasn’t a surprise, like “I can’t believe that happened,” J: Did the speakers get pretty emotional while they were talking? C: Well, these speakers, I’m sure, have talked a lot to many schools so they were….yeah, there was one who had to stop and wait a couple of moments and drink some water and collect herself, but they were pretty much pretty cool J: Nina is going to talk to you guys on Tuesday, or hopefully she will, do you have any expectations of that that is going to be like? C: I don’t know. Some speakers talk with not as much emotions as other ones. I was listening to Ruth Klüger talk last quarter and she was pretty come and talked about the whole process she went through, she didn’t go into the gory details or anything, so I mean, its bad, but I think the gory details have more impact and are emotional, powerful. But everything else is powerful too, its just different styles of speakers. Some people don’t like to get so involved in that because its so hard to talk about. J: Have you read any of Ruth Kluger’s memoir? C: [Shakes head no] J: You just heard her talk? What did you think when she said “begin born into jewish parents isn’t something one would wish on other people?” She’s kinda lost her faith, did you get from her talk? C: Um, at the end? When did she say that? J: She said that when she was beginning her talk, and then again during the question and answer period one person kinda called her out on it, and she sidestepped the question, do you remember that at all? C: [puzzeled look] J: It was kind of interesting, but that’s okay. J: So your overall impressions of these speakers, has it helped you shed light on the holocaust as you study it now…like when you read something in Dr. Marcuse’s class, can you be like, “oh yeah, Austwich, that’s where Ruth Kluger was”…does it help place a face onto these events and facts? C: Yeah of course. And it gives it personality- when you study history about something so far away, and you can’t really put a face to what you are reading about or whatever and invisioning, but it really helps paint a picture and say, “okay, these are real people that were there. Their not all dead. This is our generation. We’re the last generation that is going to be able to hear this. J: That’s an excellent point. These are the last, Ruth Kluger was a child when she was in the camps and that the speakers that are left now were pretty young during it, which is also tragic in itself, having to go through that so young. How do you feel about the that, about kids in the Holocaust? Is that harder to think of when you think of survivors, is it one thing to think of the old people who make it through versus the children? Hows that strike you? C: I also think, “What it harder for the adults suriving or was it harder for the children who survived?” because children have such young minds, young impressionable minds- I’m sure it impacts their whole life. But for adults also, just to see the children go through it, after having such tight bonds with their families, having to be separated, and also the children having to be separated, I always think was it harder for each one, but women and children were the top of the list that were the ones murdered, so since there are so few children survivors, I think it is more powerful…I mean its more powerful to hear them speak just knowing that there were so few, and them having to live their whole lives thinking about it. J: One last question, could you compare one you hear someone talk versus when you read it; Like Elie Wiesle’s Night v. Ruth Kluger’s talk; what do you think is better, or how would you compare the two? C: I like to read more, because I can really take my time and read every word of it and remember it, and go over it if I want to. Speaking out, when I went to hear speakers, it’s a real learning experience, but I prefer… I like to read it because it sinks in more. J: Does reading help with actual facts, allowing you to piece together stories more? C: Yeah. J: Speaking adds some emotion too, right? C: Yeah, I would defiantly hear as many as I can. J: So both is best? C: Yeah, I can’t really say I’d rather read than hear someone speak because that’s not true, and I can’t say I don’t want to read it. J: Okay. Is there anything else you would like to tell me, or did we miss something? C: Just that its really important to hear as many as you can, because we are the last generation… J: Okay, that was good stuff.
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Jeremy: Let me just ask you a little about yourself first. What’s your major? Celia: Well, I’m switching to the English major. J: Okay, were you currently undeclared? C: Well, I’m Dramatic Arts. J: Dramatic Arts, switching to English, okay. What other history have you studied, types of history? C: Well, I mean just in high school, European history and World history and U.S. history. J: Okay, and what high school did you go to? C: Milken Community High School. J: Where’s that at? C: In L.A. J: What type of high school is that? C: It’s a Jewish private school. J: When you were in high school did you study the Holocaust at all, in any of your class? C: Yeah, when I was a sophomore we had an actual Holocaust class for half the year and then we went to a regular history class. We had a mandatory Jewish studies class every year, so within that the Holocaust is incorporated a little bit. J: And within this class did you guys ever have any speakers come in? C: Not yet, Nina is suppose to come in.. J: I meant in the High school class. C: Oh, yeah well not specifically in the class, but we’ve had a few speakers come in, in an auditorium type setting, once every year at least. J: So for the four years you were in high school you had at least a speaker every year? C: Yeah, for two years it was the same one, but yeah we heard them… J: And the whole school hears this. C: Yeah. J: How big is the school? C: Not big, there’s about 600 kids. J: What speaker sticks out the most? C: I’m not good with names…they all stick out. All their stories are amazing, they all speak very well. I was surprised because [I thought] they would have thick accents…Most speakers were in the Holocaust, and so was my Grandma’s boyfriend, and I got to talk to him a lot, one-on-one. It was really powerful. Firsthand one-on-one. J: And one of the speakers came twice to the school, two years in a row? C: Yeah. J: Were the stories basically the same, or was it just as powerful the next time? C: It was the same…of course it wasn’t exactly the same…part of it was the first part of her life, like what was going on, and towards the end so it was like cumulative. J: When you heard all these speakers, did any of the stories seem like they overlapped…were the stories similar or were they all unique to themselves? C: Since they were all basically the same setting, like there all concentration camps, the stories were all unique, but for the most part, when we had a Holocaust speaker come in, we had an idea of what they were going to talk about. J: How did you come up this that idea [of what they were going to talk about], did you guys talk about it in your Holocaust class? C: Yeah, and not even in that, just like after the speaker comes in every class we talked about it; what she said, or what he said, basically going over it and saying our thoughts… J: If you can think back, even before high school, when was the first time you heard anything about the Holocaust, just in general? You mentioned your grandma’s boyfriend was a survivor, was that the first time? C: No because that was in high school too. Before high school, in middle school I went to it also, and I’m sure we touched on it a little bit but I didn’t understand exactly what happened, it’s not until even this year that I really understood the facts and the reasons for it. It was just always there. The Holocaust happened and Jews died; that’s all I really knew. J: Did you ever see any films, way back when, or…when was the first time you touched on the Holocaust in literature? I high school did you read Anne Frank, or Night, Elie Wiesle’s Night? C: Yeah, I was also in Hebrew school, so in my conformation class we read Night, and in high school we read Anne Frank. A little bit in middle school we read Primo Levi, but it was a little bit and I don’t really remember. J: What do you mean by Hebrew school, was that your high school? C: I had to go to Hebrew school throughout middle school to prepare for my batmitzfah, and after that there’s a conformation class, you don’t learn Hebrew any more, you just talk about politics and the Torah and stuff like that. In there we say a lot of movies about “Moshovaon [???]”, basically focusing on Israel and the history of Israel. J: You’re from L.A., have you ever visited the L.A. Museum of Tolerance? C: Yeah. J: When did you first go there? C: A long time, probably in seventh grade. J: And have you been there more than once? C: I’ve probably been there twice. Once in high school, once in middle school. J: Did you take a high school class trip? C: Yeah. J: When you were there did you hear any speakers, or just basically do the tour? C: We just did the tour. J: So have you seen…I know that during high school Schindler’s List came out, did you see that? C: Yeah, at home. We didn’t watch it in class. J: Did your family go with you? C: It was actually on ABC. J: So you saw it after it was out in the theaters? C: Yeah. J: Have you seen any other Holocaust related TV programs…documentaries, etc.? C: I’m sure I have, I just don’t remember any of the names. I’ve seen a lot of things on TV about it.
J: If you think back to the old speakers that you’ve heard, is there any one story that really sticks out, either of hope or horror? C: I can’t think of any specific [ones], but I don’t remember any exact details. J: Is there anything that’s still with you now?, is basically what I’m trying to get at? C: Yeah, I always think about when I’m reading about the Holocaust or reading something, I think of an individual story that really stuck out to me that was really powerful. Just thinking about it actually happening. The whole separating of the families was an image that really stuck out for me. J: Was it shocking to hear the stories the first time, or did you guys prepare for it a little bit in school? Did they prep you? C: Yeah, they did. We talked about it a lot, but obviously talking about it is completely different than hearing it first hand from the actual person that went through it. But we did talk a lot about it. So it wasn’t a surprise, like “I can’t believe that happened.” J: Did the speakers get pretty emotional while they were talking? C: Well, these speakers, I’m sure, have talked a lot to many schools so they were…yeah, there was one who had to stop and wait a couple of moments and drink some water and collect herself, but they were pretty much pretty cool.
J: Nina is going to talk to you guys on Tuesday, or hopefully she will, do you have any expectations of that that is going to be like? C: I don’t know. Some speakers talk with not as much emotions as other ones. I was listening to Ruth Kluger talk last quarter and she was pretty calm and talked about the whole process she went through, she didn’t go into the gory details or anything, so I mean, it’s bad, but I think the gory details have more impact and are emotional, powerful. But everything else is powerful too, its just different styles of speakers. Some people don’t like to get so involved in that because it’s so hard to talk about. J: Have you read any of Ruth Kluger’s memoir? C: [Shakes head no] J: You just heard her talk? What did you think when she said “begin born into Jewish parents isn’t something one would wish on other people?” She’s kind of lost her faith, did you get from her talk? C: Um, at the end? When did she say that? J: She said that when she was beginning her talk, and then again during the question and answer period one person kind of called her out on it, and she sidestepped the question, do you remember that at all? C: [puzzled look] J: It was kind of interesting, but that’s okay. J: So your overall impressions of these speakers, has it helped you shed light on the Holocaust as you study it now…like when you read something in Dr. Marcuse’s class, can you be like, “oh yeah, Auschwitz, that’s where Ruth Kluger was”…does it help place a face onto these events and facts? C: Yeah of course. And it gives it personality. When you study history about something so far away, and you can’t really put a face to what you are reading about or whatever and envisioning, but it really helps paint a picture and say, “okay, these are real people that were there. They’re not all dead. This is our generation. We’re the last generation that is going to be able to hear this. J: That’s an excellent point. These are the last, Ruth Kluger was a child when she was in the camps and that the speakers that are left now were pretty young during it, which is also tragic in itself, having to go through that so young. How do you feel about that, about kids in the Holocaust? Is that harder to think of when you think of survivors, is it one thing to think of the old people who make it through versus the children? How’s that strike you? C: I also think, “What it harder for the adults surviving or was it harder for the children who survived?” because children have such young minds, young impressionable minds, I’m sure it impacts their whole life. But for adults also, just to see the children go through it, after having such tight bonds with their families, having to be separated, and also the children having to be separated, I always think was it harder for each one, but women and children were the top of the list that were the ones murdered, so since there are so few children survivors, I think it is more powerful…I mean it’s more powerful to hear them speak just knowing that there were so few, and them having to live their whole lives thinking about it. J: One last question, could you compare when you hear someone talk versus when you read it; Like Elie Wiesle’s Night v. Ruth Kluger’s talk; what do you think is better, or how would you compare the two? C: I like to read more, because I can really take my time and read every word of it and remember it, and go over it if I want to. Speaking out, when I went to hear speakers, it’s a real learning experience, but I prefer… I like to read it because it sinks in more. J: Does reading help with actual facts, allowing you to piece together stories more? C: Yeah. J: Speaking adds some emotion too, right? C: Yeah, I would defiantly hear as many as I can. J: So both is best? C: Yeah, I can’t really say I’d rather read than hear someone speak because that’s not true, and I can’t say I don’t want to read it. J: Okay. Is there anything else you would like to tell me, or did we miss something? C: Just that its really important to hear as many as you can, because we are the last generation… J: Okay, that was good stuff.
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That is the correct spelling of the High school.
What were those thoughts?
Not sure of the movie mentioned
Interviewer is mistaken on dates. Schindler’s List could not have come out while Celia was in high school.
The one emotional speaker moment seems to have stood out the most as Celia still remembers the details the speaker’s reactions.
Interviewer receives uncomfortable during these questions and wisely moves on.
This is real good stuff. Quotable.
Good Stuff
Good on Books
After the interview, Celia mentioned how the camera and recorder made her nervous and how she talks less when she knows it is being recorded. |
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