WarGen: Recording the memories of WWII veterans before they are gone

Interviews, WW2

By Pierre Kosmidis

Dan Snow and James Holland , along with other historians launched a very interesting project, WarGen.org , whose aim is to preserve the testimonies of veterans, both men and women, who have served during World War 2.

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Millions of men and women served and lived through World War II, but sadly now only a handful survive. World War II touched the lives of every man, woman and child of all the major combatant nations and yet soon the memories of those people will be gone forever.

The War Generation project aims to record the memories of as many of these survivors as possible on an open crowd-sourced platform. We want anyone to be able to reach this material, whether it be a voice-recording, filmed interview or written transcription. There will be the opportunity to post other material too as well as leave comments and have discussions with other users of the site.

WarGen’s aim is to have the testimonies of veterans from all around the world.

We are fortunate to be living in an age where recording these voices has never been easier.

If you know of a veteran of the war, ask them whether you can talk to them about their memories of that extraordinary conflict. Then, using a smart phone or digital recorder, sit down with them and ask them a few questions.

Together, we have interviewed lots and lots of veterans and in every case it has been a fascinating and highly rewarding experience.

By recording your conversation with a member of the Greatest Generation, you will be not only learning much yourself, but will also be helping to record those memories so that they are not lost but are instead saved and then archived for future generations.

See here how can you get involved