Interviewers' Reactions to Holocaust Survivors' Testimony Aviva Mazor, Yolanda Gampel, Gilit Horwitz I. Preparation for the Interview Cluster #1, called Fear responses, is characterized by fears, feelings and thoughts that are focused on the survivors' possible responses. Cluster #7, called Directions and rules of behavior, characterized by intellectual and professional preparations that the interviewers performed in order to elevate their self-confidence and professional functioning during the interview. Cluster #12, called Anxieties due to personal involvement, highlights the interviewer's personal motivations as well as the anxiety of touching on another's pain or of causing disappointment to the survivor; these thoughts and feelings are suppressed before the interview. Cluster #13, called Curiosity and Intellectual Interest, shows that when interest in the Holocaust starts later in the interviewer's life, there is great curiosity before the interview encounter. In summary, all four main clusters describing preparations for the interview are mainly focused on interviewers' emotions and the thoughts they faced in anticipation of the interview. II. Responses During the Interview Cluster #2, entitled Intellectual structuring of the interview process, presents suggestions for preparing for interviews. This cluster focused on the interviewer's role in learning beforehand about the survivor's biographical and historical background in order to construct the interview. In addition, there is advice on achieving calm and in reducing the interviewer's anxiety. Cluster #6, called Acceptance, Concern and Interest in Survivors, describes interviewers' perceptions of the interview's impact on survivors. This cluster focuses on the survivor's feelings of fulfillment as a result of the interview interaction. In summary, only two clusters, out of 14, focused on thoughts and feelings during the interview. Both of these clusters are very limited in their informative content. Both focused on only one person in the interview: either the interviewer or the survivor. III. Responses After the Interview Cluster #3 was called Interviewers' emotional strain and their perception of survivors' coping abilities. This cluster has two focuses: one reflects the interviewer's emotional strain and feelings after the interview. The second reflects the emergence of the survivor in the interaction; that is, it reflects the survivor's method of coping with the trauma as well as their suffering expressions. Cluster #8 is called Interviewer's growing self-awareness, and the interview brings relief to survivors. In this cluster there are two main centers: In one, the interviewers disclose their motivations, such as personal needs and biographical connection to the Holocaust. The second center refers to the survivors' expressions of relief after the interview despite the hidden feelings that were revealed. Cluster #9 was entitled Interviewer's identification, guilt feelings towards the survivor, and the later working-through process. The responses described indicate how interviewers confronted survivors and themselves with regard to the meaning of their role. The interviewer had to identify with the survivor in order to be empathic. In addition, the interviewer became aware of the need to share his/her own loneliness, guilt feelings and pain. The interview's impact may lead the interviewer to therapy or counselling. After the interview, interviewers have to distance themselves in order to recover. Cluster #10 was entitled Painful feelings evoked in the survivor,and the interviewer's appreciation of the survivor. This cluster highlights the interviewer's emotional strain while listening to the survivor's story. The interviewers describe the survivors' sadness, frustration and ambivalent feelings as to whether to relate or forget their painful memories. In addition, interviewers discovered that they felt admiration and amazement at the survivors' endurance. Cluster #11 was called Feelings of shock, dismay and anxiety regarding the survivors and their families after the interview. This cluster emphasizes the difference between the interview's short- and long-term influences on the interviewer. The short-term effects are reflected in gloomy unstable moods, shock, depression, inability to function and inability to concentrate. The familial dimension of the interviewers enhances their realizations of what happened to their own family members; it also caused a further commitment to discover their own family's past. In summary, all five main clusters described two time segments after the interview. The first refers to the short-term effect, the other refers to the long-term effects. These clusters become more complex in structure since interviewers have feelings and thoughts that focus on their self-awareness as well as their perception of survivors' behavior. Another structural dimension emerging from these clusters is the interviewers' differentiation between feelings and thoughts which are transformed during different periods after the interview, and those responses which do not change. Both kinds of response appear in these clusters. [Page 6 of 9]