The UK Holocaust Memorial Foundation (UKHMF) advises HM government on taking forward the recommendations of the Prime Minister’s Holocaust Commission. One of the Commission’s recommendations was an urgent programme to record and preserve the testimony of Holocaust survivors and concentration camp liberators living in the United Kingdom. Between 2015 and 2016, the UKHMF delivered this recommendation by recording 112 audio‑visual testimonies from 113 people. All of the testimonies were conducted by Natasha Kaplinsky, broadcaster and member of the UKHMF, who was recognised in 2017 with an OBE for her exceptional voluntary contribution to Holocaust commemoration. Many of the testimonies were recorded for the first time and capture a wide range of personal experiences of Nazi antisemitic persecution and the Holocaust. These include accounts from camp survivors, children in hiding, refugees who fled to the United Kingdom, and Kindertransport children. The collection also includes the testimony of a survivor of the Roma genocide, as well as testimonies from eight British soldiers and medical staff involved in the liberation and relief efforts at Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in 1945. 

Filming Approach 

In 2015, the Holocaust Commission recommended that the testimonies should be filmed “in the highest definition available, in the purest form, with the greatest possible versatility to be adaptable for continued use as technology evolves.” The Commission also recommended exploring “the use of advanced filming techniques to capture the experience of interacting with a survivor”, building on pioneering work already underway at the time, including the partnership between the USC Shoah Foundation and the National Holocaust Centre near Newark. The UKHMF used a volumetric-style filming approach to record the testimonies. Each session was filmed against a green screen using multiple cameras, including RED EPIC DRAGON, Sony and Canon models, to record the interviewee simultaneously from several angles.

Archival Preservation and accessing testimonies at the National Archives 

The resulting source material, consisting of multi-angle video and audio recordings, is in the process of being transferred to the National Archives for archival preservation, in line with the Holocaust Commission’s recommendation that the testimonies be appropriately preserved for future generations. This is expected to be completed by late 2026. Currently accessible at the National Archives via its Discovery Catalogueare single, accessible (concatenated) video files for each interview session. Each file brings together the footage captured from the left-hand side using the RED EPIC DRAGON camera, presenting the full interview in one continuous recording for ease of access. Verbatim transcripts of this footage are also available. Where Freedom of Information (FOI) exemptions apply, these have been implemented as redactions and will remain in place until the exemptions expire or are reviewed. 

 

Testimonies available on Holocaust Testimony UK

Of the 112 recorded testimonies, 111 are available online through the Holocaust Testimony UK portal. The testimonies are presented in a format specifically designed to support learning. Each testimony begins with either a personal introduction from the interviewee or, where no introduction was recorded, a caption displaying their name. Where interviewees brought artefacts or photographs to discuss, close-up images of these items are included towards the end of the testimony. To maintain focus on the individual and their testimony, and to ensure a consistent visual style suitable for learning environments, the original green-screen background has been replaced with a textured, solid-colour backdrop.