In Soon There Will Be No Survivors, the use of portraits, audio and external links to other stories, articles and even maps added a depth and richness to the survivors stories that would not have been there if it were text alone.  Yes, the written stories brought to light some of the horrors of being a holocaust survivor but not in the same way as having the survivors actual voices tell the reader about their memories.  To hear one victim speak about being the only survivor out of eight brothers and sisters in her own words and foreign accent added to the reality of her horrific pasts.

Having portraits of the survivors paired with actual audio from interviews with the survivors was the most enriching element of this profile article.  Any time we can add a face to the name or story helps to personalize the experience for me.  To have a face and actual audio to go with each profile really brought these peoples stories to life.  For history to say these things happened is one thing; to have personal accounts from memory from actual survivors is a totally different experience.

Along with portraits and audio, the author uses a lot of hyperlinks within the text to connect the story with actual data, other articles and even maps to show where the survivors are currently living.  I thought the use of maps was a very interesting inclusion to the story.  Although I do not know much of the geography of New York City, the maps, like the audio, helped me to realize that these are actual people with actual day to day struggles, not just survivors of one of the most horrific crimes against humanity.

Although I liked the inclusion of hyperlinks within the text of the profile, I think there were just a bit too many of them.  Every time I clicked on one, I would have to go back a few lines in the story to remind myself where I was in my reading.  It seemed like an information overload in some cases that took away from the point of the story.

As to the layout of the profile, I enjoyed its simplicity and almost starkness.  This let me focus on the story being told and to look at the portraits without being overwhelmed by flashy colors or violent and sad pictures of the death camps.  We have all seen these pictures and know what they look like.  The simplistic layout allowed me to focus on the profiles and listen to the survivors voices.

The only thing that stuck out to me that could have been done differently is the text that is on the actual portraits in the lower right hand corner.  The color used for this text is a bit light and fades too easily into the background in some of the portraits making them very hard to read.

As far as what I would like to use in my profile that I have learned from reading these profiles, the use of audio can be very powerful.  I am interviewing my landlord who is a Cuban immigrant.  He came to America aboard a very small boat with a handful of other young men.  I plan on recording some of the interview, especially when we talk about the actual journey from Cuba to Miami.  I think it will be very powerful to hear Andres’ story of survival on the open ocean in his own words…he speaks in broken English with a thick Cuban accent, not unlike some of the holocaust survivors.