Questionnaire on the Holocaust in Yad Vashem Studies, Volume III

Problems Relating to a Questionnaire on the Holocaust

The feature which distinguishes interviewed evidence is that it can be planned at every stage. The advantages over the disadvantages must be carefully sought. Collection of evidence may be carried out as a general or as a specific project. Systematic interviewing should be based on a questionnaire prepared in advance. The questionnaire should be compiled so that maximum information can be gathered without the witness being influenced by the questions. The compiler should aim at: 1. acquiring basic preliminary information, having studied the available sources; 2. determining the psychological, chronological and logical sequence of the complex of events contained in the questionnaire; 3. formulating the questions in strict and critical regard to content and form.