Much of what we know about the Holocaust comes from the written and oral testimonies of survivors. It shapes our understanding, stirs our emotions, and cements our humanity. Although a picture is drawn, the pieces that make it up are unique. Interpreting each unique piece brings unique challenges. The problem of faulty memory, dialects, accents, word choice and translations can prove daunting to the interpreter. When attempting to form a concise understanding, you need to form a complement of written and oral testimonies. This becomes an even more difficult task when you piece together a deep understanding of something that possesses the magnitude of the Holocaust. To do justice to the matter, it is of utmost importance to find a balance between what you hear and what you read. Before we consider the importance of written and oral testimonies, we must first consider the importance of testimonies in general. Testimonials make it easier to personalize the story. It is difficult to understand what would lead a mother to take the lives of her children to spare them the pain and suffering that awaited them in the concentration camps. Or the testimonies of children forced to steal out of necessity to feed their families. This gives us the complex view of the world and the choices these survivors faced. When memories of hardship, terror and survival are taken into account, the Holocaust becomes a doorway to the past. A door that perhaps we don't want to go through, but that we must go through. Testimonies improve our understanding. They offer details not found in other publications about the events, such as in the film Weapons of the Spirit. It is a documentary film by Pierre Sauvage about a village in Nazi-occupied France which hides... middle of paper... understanding, it is necessary to form a complement of written and oral testimonies. To do justice to the matter, it is of utmost importance to find a balance between what is heard and what is read. While writing is more static, speaking is more dynamic. Written testimony can sometimes be more precise: words can be chosen more carefully since the information is not transferred in an instant. The reader is allowed their own pace when digesting the information. Such factors can have a profound effect on the reader's understanding. Oral testimony may have a better effect in expressing the subject's emotions to a listener. When speaking: gestures, volume, pauses, intonation can cause a rather different interpretation than if those words were read. When trying to form a concise understanding, you need to form a complement of written and oral testimonies.