The transcribed life stories of Holocaust surviviors in this collection are the result of Freda Kosmin’s efforts to record and preserve the testimony of those who survived the Holocaust, paying particular attention to what they achieved after the war. The project was therefore given the title: How Hitler failed: From Survival to Success.

The project was instigated when Freda met one of the interviewees then saw him speak publicly about his experiences. He agreed to be interviewed by Freda and also recommended other potential interviewees. There are 7 interview transcripts in total, each several pages long. The transcripts have in most cases been supplemented with information from other sources, quoted at the beginning of each transcript.