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Preserving Family History

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Method

06.01.2026

method - 1 - An overview of a method we can use to explore and process extreme experiences in history:

An overview of a method we can use to explore and process extreme experiences in history: Early forms of narratives – In our research, we need to create systems that, on the one hand, keep us flexible and, on the other hand, allow us to identify or record something. The bulletin board is one of […]

06.01.2026

method - 2 - Containment

Containment as a method of self-preservation and protection against one’s own repressive forces –  Amid the chaos of events, I construct various forms of chronologies or logical frameworks during my research. This is particularly true when the intensity and frequency of violent incidents within the family are high, and the individual’s entanglement in historical events […]

06.01.2026

method - 3 - Microcosm - Macrocosm

Microcosm – Macrocosm – I need a structurally multifaceted equivalence to the complex reality that research is all about. Every form of knowledge you document takes some of the burden off you. You’re pulling away.  On the computer, I set up “knowledge containers”—such as Excel spreadsheets, travel journals, photo journals, and digitized archival material—across multiple […]

06.01.2026

method - 4 - Gathering material

Gathering Material –  You have to gather the material. You have to be consistent and precise. You have to be honest with yourself. You must not distort the content or facts yourself, as those who cover up crimes do, because you, too, are driven by emotions that can narrow—or even completely distort—your view of events […]

06.01.2026

method - 5- Ideas

A word, a sentence, or a thought comes to mind, or I have an idea. I jot it down on a strip of paper, date it, and note the exact time. This can happen in the middle of the night. Then I tuck the strip of paper into my work journal. Just as the traffic […]

06.01.2026

method - 6 - the Emotional Grid

The Emotional Grid – Underlying the entire process is a sequence of emotions followed by insights that enable you to expand your questions or dismiss them entirely. But this variability does not apply to time. It now becomes clear to us: the reconstructive text is asynchronous. And what are you actually doing? You’re working through […]

06.01.2026

method - 7 - Conscious - Unconscious

Conscious – Unconscious The most delicate stages in reconstructing a family history are those in which one moves from a state of emotional detachment or indifference to a preconscious state. For example, one may know something, but it does not affect one emotionally. The message hasn’t reached you yet. We are not yet conscious of […]

06.01.2026

method - 8 - Intuition and Construction

Intuition and construction –  I can examine the process of abstraction—the transformation of feeling into words—in retrospect by going into the various formats of my containers and seeing what is depicted there. I return to the original form. One cannot reverse the transformation of a feeling that has already been abstracted—that is, its transformation into a […]

06.01.2026

method - 9 - No Chronology

No Chronology – Historians typically present history and stories chronologically, but within us they lie unsorted and undated, and they are always present. History is an egalitarian, inner, timeless reality within us that spans countless generations. When you sit at your desk and immerse yourself in historical processes and human experiences, everything happens all at […]

06.01.2026

method - 10 - Tension energy

Tension Energy –  Under certain circumstances, an oscillating tension may develop between the contents of the knowledge containers. You must work with this tension. You are then on the trail of something. In my research, for example, these included German shepherds, hair, feet, eye color, body measurements, but also the significance of antique furniture, silverware, […]

06.01.2026

method - 11 - How do you figure out the things you don't know?

If we have no proof and no evidence, we must observe for a long time and also follow the inner path—exploring what lies stored within us as memory and the traces that exist out there. We begin to search. I have to work with my intuition. I write something down. I take it out again. […]

06.01.2026

method - 12 - Archives

Archives –  Archives are treasure troves of history. The French archive, the Dépôt central des archives de la justice militaire (DCAJM) holds the file on the German SS leader Klaus Barbie. The case of the “Butcher of Lyon”—who rose through the ranks as head of the Gestapo in Lyon from 1942 to 1944 during the […]

06.01.2026

method - 13 - The Tenacious Struggle Over Form -

The Tenacious Struggle Over Form – The process of coming to terms with and representing history in societies is a tenacious struggle over the form of that representation. The Israeli historian Saul Friedländer made the following observation regarding the question of objective versus subjective perspectives in the debate among German historians in the 1980s: “Historians […]

06.01.2026

method - 14 - Interviewing and Self-Reflection - The Life History Interview

Interviewing and Self-Reflection – The Life History Interview – The life history interview is the very heart of research. Through historical reflection and dialogue with the interviewee, one develops one’s own moral compass. It is not age that distinguishes us from one another; it is the life of the other that we must recognize and […]

06.01.2026

method - 15 - Casual togetherness

We’re just hanging out together. Stories often come out spontaneously, like a flash of inspiration or a rush of emotion. You always have to have a pen and a notepad ready to jot down those snippets of sentences. But it can also be the other way around. Nothing comes at all. You have to develop […]

06.01.2026

method - 16 - The Meaning of the Photography

The Meaning of the Photography – “We often forget, but memories are captured in these images.” As we look at the old photographs, memories come flooding back. Through her narration, the storyteller spontaneously conveys a feeling. I listen to her and absorb the story through the emotion she shares. Through the emotion of the person […]

06.01.2026

method - 17 - Learning to Read a Photograph

Learning to Read a Photograph –  Reconstructing family history requires self-control. I notice that I have a tendency to look for something in a photograph that isn’t actually depicted in it. I stare. What am I looking for? Am I longing for something? Am I conjuring it up this way? Am I missing something? Or […]

06.01.2026

method - 18 - The Camera as an Observing Eye - Apperception

The Camera as an Observing Eye – Apperception The camera is an important tool. She sharpens my focus. For example, I take pictures of passages of text, plants, the position of the sun, and animals. As I’ve looked at these photos, I’ve realized that my perception and focus when taking pictures are no accident. The […]

06.01.2026

method - 19 - Reconstructing a Family History Through a Photo Album

Reconstructing a Family History Through a Photo Album You create a photo album by placing photographs—such as those you pay no attention to at all, or those you look at repeatedly and that capture your attention—on a sheet of paper and in a ring binder, without any temporal or historical context. And now you show […]

06.01.2026

method - 20 - hub of Storytelling

The Hub of Storytelling When talking with family members, friends, or neighbors, you can now look at the photos and jot down a few sentences—for example, about a landscape or a meal … as we view them together, and these sentences mark the beginning of a story. They capture the most vivid expression of memory. […]

06.01.2026

method - 21 - The Little Things

The Little Things Emotions are preserved and set aside not only in language but also in the little things we surround ourselves with. Something that seems to have been casually set aside can be an object that holds emotions and memories of the utmost importance. It is a container of emotions. You can find them […]