Oral History, Passionate History

History is commonly thought of as boring. This is because the way many students think of history is so and so did such and such on this this date and as a result.... But history is more than dates, names, and consequences. Everything that has happened in the past has changed individual people, and whole societies. Oral history is saving and learning about historical events by interviewing individuals who either caused something to happen, or who was immediately affected by the actions. In the 1980's, there were many events that changed the world, both for better and for worse. 

Chernobyl: 

Chernobyl was a nuclear power plant in Ukraine that experienced a devastating accident in 1986. One of the reactors exploded due to an unexpected power surge. There was a series of explosions, and as the dangerous energy escaped, the town of Pripyat was in trouble. Pripyat was home to around 50,000 people; the majority of which worked at Chernobyl. The lives of those people were forever changed, and I got to learn about it through interviews I watched.

The people of Pripyat loved their town. One older women said that it was filled with roses, and because everyone loved the roses so much, no one would pick even a petal from the precious blossoms. The people were happy where they were, and they were proud of their plant. Pretty much everyone from the town was somehow connected to Chernobyl, whether they worked there as an engineer or manager, or delivered food for the workers. Chernobyl and Pripyat were deeply connected, as one relied on the other. The people of the town needed Chernobyl for energy, and Chernobyl needed the people from the town in order to work. After the explosion, and the extremely large amounts of radiation that leaked, it was critical that the residents of Pripyat evacuate. Uprooted, broken, confused and lost, the people needed another place to live. The government constructed a new city for the people, and every year they remember the disaster with a candle lit walk.

Now, as the people interviewed recalled the accident, it brought tears to many of their eyes. The past can be a painful thing. One girl was very young, and her father died because of the accident. One old man was working as an engineer when it happened, and sprang came to eyes as he said he felt broken, and like he no longer had a purpose; that there was no use for him anymore. Now, Pripyat is an abandoned, broken down, ghost city. People are still working on cleaning up the radiation. While they have made great progress, it is not expected to be finished before 2064.

The abandoned ghost town: Pripyat

The Berlin Wall: 

While the Berlin Wall separated East and West Germany, Russia's leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, had a lot to do with bringing it down. The wall was built in 1961 and divided East and West Germany. It seemed to sprout up overnight, with little warning. It left families separated, and East German citizens stuck  with the strict, freedom strangling government. For 28 years, the only way people could get to West Germany was by smuggling their way out. There were many interesting, creative, and dangerous ideas that people come up with in order to escape. One way was to dig tunnels under the wall. Using these cramped, small tunnels, people could smuggle themselves to the other side. I read two stories about men who both used tunnels to escape, and continued to help others make their way to West Germany. However, there were many reasons that this was a bad idea. First, rain and flooding could wash out the tunnels. Second, the tunnels were so small, and sometimes hard to fit through. Finally, in both the stories I read there was someone who was an informer. This resulted in many people being sent to jail for multiple years.

Escaping via tunnels

Oral History: 

There was a difference I noticed between the two Oral Histories I studied. The video documentary allowed me to watch, hear, and sense the peoples reactions to the questions asked. It enabled me to feel the passion, the pain. There is more to communication than simply words. The movement of the hand, the intensity of the gaze and where it is directed. The pounding of a fist on a table, the speaking through tears. Oral history is about understanding and capturing the tormenting agony of painful memories, or the unspeakable joy and happiness the good memories. With this is communication of the past I was able to get more of the realness of Chernobyl. On the other hand, I read the stories about those who suffered the Berlin Wall. When you read, it is difficult to truly understand the emotion behind each word. There was the actual interviews on the side of the stories, and I listened to a little bit of the each. While it was in German, I was surprised with how much it flushed out stories. I could note the inflection in a voice and the pauses of a speaker.

I enjoy Oral History because I can feel each event. I get more than a so and so did this and that and it caused such and such a result. I can better understand the event because it becomes real through Oral History. No longer is Chernobyl just an explosion at a nuclear power plant in 1986. Rather, it was a tragic thing, that caused real people, people just like me, to have there whole lives changed in a matter of minutes. They must live with the burden and consequences for years, and that is the true story. This is why Oral History is important.