Excavating Wartime Sound Heritage of Germany, Italy, and Japan

Abstract

This article treats the presence of captured sound recordings from the former Axis powers (Germany, Italy and Japan) that were seized by United States military forces as part of a mass collection of enemy archival materials at the end of World War II which are held today at major heritage institutions in the Washington, D.C. area. Focusing on the recorded sound collections at the Library of Congress in Washington, and the National Archives at College Park, Maryland, we first consider the limited clues available as to the provenance of the captured collections, which have become increasingly ‘mixed’ in nature, including other historical radio and sound recordings related to World War II. In addition to offering insights into the contents of the collections, we outline the challenges they have faced since they were first accessioned during the mid-1940s, and later managed, preserved and partly catalogued at each institution. We close with a critical evaluation of the current condition of the collections and the potential for improved documentation, contextualization and accessibility of these materials, many of which seem to be unique recordings not available elsewhere