My Oral History Interview

1. My Oral History Interview Jason Boley November 18, 2007

2. Getting Started With Oral Histories • Links to helpful website for getting started and formulating questions • http://dohistory.org/on_your_own/toolkit/oralHistory.html • http://www.inthefirstperson.com/firp/index.shtml • Techniques and questions • http://www.jewishgen.org/InfoFiles/quest.txt • http://www.indiana.edu/~cshm/techniques.html • Sample Class Project • http://oldsegundo.com/webquests/voices_from_past/student-home.htm

3. Interview Background • James Boley • My Grandfather (now deceased) • At his home in Nabb, IN • Sometime around 1995 • Oral interview, pencil and paper only, no audio recording

4. Why I Chose To Interview This Person • My grandfather was a prisoner of war in WWII. He never spoke about it to anyone, so I asked if I could ask him a few questions about it. I took a few notes at the time. I did not know at that time that I was the only person he would ever speak to about his experience (outside of the men in his unit) until he died.

5. Introductory Slide

6. Question: How Long Were You In The War? • Entered on October 23, 1940 and discharged on August 26, 1945. He was captured on February 14, 1943 and was a P.O.W. for 813 days (27 months).

7. Question: Where Were You Captured? • James was one of the first people in combat in Northern Africa. He was captured in Tunisia at the Battle of Faid Pass. His tank was hit, he ran into a cactus patch to hide, and was surrounded by Germans after the battle died down.

8. Question: What Was Life Like In The Camp? • James was in a work camp, so conditions were not as bad as Jewish concentration camps. However, they were not good. They did not work, and were mostly left alone. There was little food. He slept on a solid board and had one blanket. However, the Red Cross was allowed into the camp.

9. What I Learned • I learned details about my grandfather’s captivity that most people in my family had never heard. • I learned how my grandfather was captured and where he was held prisoner. • I learned that when the camp was liberated he had to walk over 25 miles to the American front, killing his own food along the way.