US Ambassador Norman Eisen Uncovers Records of His Czechoslovak Ancestors












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            On Wednesday, March 23, 2011, the US Ambassador Norman Eisen paid a visit to the Malach Vi

            Centre at the Charles University Faculty of Mathematics and Physics. The director of the I
            Formal and Applied Linguistics of the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics and founder of th
            Prof. RNDr. Jan Hajič, Dr., told Mr Eisen about the Centre’s history as well as the archiv

            52,000 interviews with Holocaust survivors.
            The history of this encounter began earlier this year when the US Ambassador assumed offic
            were a number of coincidences. On January 28, Mr Eisen officially presented his credential

            Václav Klaus. On that very day we marked the first anniversary of the Malach Visual Histor
            Faculty,” Professor Hajič says. During the same week, the US Embassy contacted the faculty

            opportunity to present this unique international project to the new ambassador.
            His Excellency Norman Eisen and his team arrived at the faculty premises on Malostranské n
            1 pm and stayed for more than an hour. First of all Mr. Eisen was shown round the faculty 

            hall and then tried working with one of the computers to see for himself how the whole arc
            Eisen said he was very happy to find many records connected with his family’s former place
            his mother Frieda, survivor of the Auschwitz death camp, was born in former Czechoslovakia

            The ambassador welcomed the fact that the unique archive is now accessible in the Czech Re
            country of assignment, and pointed out that the existence of the archive and its potential
            only in the field of history and linguistics are “fascinating”. He also expressed interest

            the project – whether further testimonies would be archived as valuable survivors’ testimo
            that have yet to be recorded.
            About the Malach Visual History Centre

            The Malach Visual History Centre (http://ufal.mff.cuni.cz/cvhm [ URL "http://ufal.mff.cuni
            an access point to the large digital archive of the USC Shoah Foundation Institute. The ar
            almost 52,000 testimonies from Holocaust survivors and witnesses (lasting 2 hours on avera

            recorded during the 1990s in 56 countries and 32 languages. The archive is accessible thro
            interface that enables users to search and watch testimonies according to their specific i
            index containing 55,000 different keywords. More than 500 interviews are available in Czec

            Its premises in the Library of the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics on Malostranské námě
            six independent workstations and seat 12 researchers or members of the public who can work
            interview archive. The user interface is easy and intuitive yet sufficiently sophisticated

            individual work, the capacity and arrangement of the Malach Centre also allows organized g
            to 20 members, for example by specialized student seminars from high schools and universit
            like to visit the Malach VHC, you can do so any time during its opening hours (see the web

            write to malach@knihovna.mff.cuni.cz
             (Lucie Kettnerová)
            Translation: Pavla Horáková