„I was separated from my family … never heard a word from them again“ Frühe Erinnerungen von Child Survivors

The article will regard and discuss the individual Case Files of the Allied Child Search Branch (CSB) kept in the archives of the International Tracing Service (ITS) in Bad Arolsen as early testimonies of child survivors of the Holocaust. After describing the origins and functions of the CSB, we will explain the form and structure of the case files and the interviews conducted with children and young people. Further, the article will investigate the identity of the interviewers, the time at which and the purposes for which the interviews were conducted, and their design. Excerpts from testimonies will illustrate the fact that the interviews provided space for individual children’s voices to be heard in spite of their standardized format. The article is based on files on surviving Jewish children and the interviews they contain.