Our aims

The Gathering the Voices Association is a charity comprised of six volunteers.

What we set out to do

  1. To gather audio and video testimonies from Holocaust refugees about their experiences before and after they came to Scotland
  2. To make these testimonies available and freely accessible on the World Wide Web
  3. To educate current and future generations about the resilience of these refugees
  4. To use innovative teaching and learning approaches

Contributions

Nine adults standing together in a large hall, smiling at the camera: the volunteers, a university principal and guests at a Gathering the Voices event in 2013.

Front row, left to right: Claire and Howard Singerman (GVA, Gathering the Voices Association), Vice Chancellor and Principal Professor Pamela Gillies CBE (Glasgow Caledonian University), Angela Shapiro, Hilary and Steven Anson (GVA). Back row, left to right: Stewart Maxwell (MSP), Duncan Cameron (Riverside Music Complex), David Shapiro (GVA), Heinrich Schnettger (German Consul, Edinburgh). Picture taken in 2013.

This project would not have been possible without the vital contributions from the survivors of Nazi anti-Semitism and political persecution. They gave their testimonies generously despite describing experiences that were painful for them to recall.

This project is a true reflection of community, for it has involved many groups and individuals:

  • Staff and students of Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU)
  • Staff and students of Riverside Recording Studio
  • The Glasgow branch of the Association of Jewish Refugees
  • The Executive of the Glasgow Jewish Representative Council
  • Giffnock and Newlands Synagogue
  • Volunteer history graduates from Edinburgh University

And many other helpers who are giving freely of their time.

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