Stories of Liberation > Comments > "Review of Stories of Liberation"
Piece Comment
Commenter Profile
- Marjorie Van Halteren
- Username: mvanhalteren
- Location: Lille, France
- Joined PRX: Jan 03, 2004
Piece Information
- "Stories of Liberation"
- Summary: Two World War II veterans recall memories of serving on the front lines, and helping to liberate two concentration camps.
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Review of Stories of Liberation
Marjorie Van Halteren
Posted on May 09, 2006 at 02:27 PM
The text posted with the piece says that 100 veterans of WWII pass away every day ? so the very fact that here is a recording of two men alive who were there, and saw it with their own eyes, is already important. Both men also state that they weren?t able to talk about the experience until recently ? so, it?s great to have them on tape. Their reluctance to talk may explain the dispassionate tone they both take when explaining what they saw. The information flows along ? all in much the same tone ? first the self-conscious laughter heard during a discussion of eating nothing but spam ? then a description of the starving prisoners they liberated ? and again cut short with that little self-conscious laugh. They?re still not ready to talk about it ? perhaps they never will be. The men do agree that it?s important to let people know what war really is?and it could be quite interesting in itself that the experience will seems so controlled and under wraps for both of them. However, the peaceful, mellow jazz music only underscores this - if you don?t catch exactly what they?re saying, it?s all so strangely just another bit of easy listening. A different approach to editing could have given the piece some dramatic structure.