Voices of World War II: Oral Histories

History is made of people. In this short course you will hear two eyewitnesses to the Second World War tell their own stories, and you will learn to treat their memories the way historians do: as powerful, personal evidence that still needs to be checked.

What you will do

• Watch two interactive oral-history videos with checkpoints, context pop-ups, chapters and a full transcript.
• Connect each witness’s story to the wider history of the war: evacuation and the Blitz, the V-weapons, the Battle of the Bulge and the Holocaust.
• Practise sourcing: what makes an oral history valuable, and where it needs corroboration.
• Write short reflections that your teacher can review.

Lessons

1. Sent Away: A London Childhood in the Blitz (about 20 minutes)
2. From the Bulge to Buchenwald: A Soldier’s Testimony (about 25 minutes)

Audience: high school (grades 9–12). Content note: Lesson 2 includes descriptions and historical footage of a Nazi concentration camp.