Verbit, a leading platform in transcription services, is revolutionizing the way we preserve history by converting data into easily searchable and cataloged formats. Their technology utilizes automatic speech recognition to create initial transcriptions that are then refined by human editors for accuracy and completeness. The company’s CEO, Yair Amsterdam, is dedicated to enhancing the quality of old recordings by removing background noise from decades-old testimonies.
Their goal is to transcribe approximately 8 million minutes of testimonies in multiple languages, including those related to the Holocaust. This will ensure that these crucial pieces of history are preserved for future generations. The testimonies collected from various archives in Israel and Yale University cover a range of experiences, including that of Gita Sikowitz, who survived the Holocaust as a young girl. Her testimony describes the hardships she endured, including surviving selections in Auschwitz and labor camps.
Greg Schneider, Senior Vice President of the Claims Conference, emphasizes the sensitivity and importance of these testimonies, especially as survivors of the Holocaust are dwindling. Preserving these stories through transcription ensures that they are accurately documented for posterity and honors the voices of survivors. Accurately transcribing these testimonies despite technical challenges such as poor audio quality and varied accents is crucial to preserving history.
Overall, transcription is a vital tool for preserving history and ensuring that important testimonies are accessible and understood by future generations. By transcribing and translating these accounts, we can honor the voices of survivors and ensure that the lessons of history are not forgotten.