ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the most astonishing case of erasure of a large population it outlines the reasons that have lead to that silencing, and finally sketches ways out of the dilemma. It makes a case for oral history as the only historical method capable of contributing the experiences of migrants themselves to historical narratives. The use of oral testimony is vital because other sources, especially written testimony, are not available. The case of erasure in question concerns the migrants from the countries of the former Yugoslavia, who are the largest migrant group in contemporary Vienna. The chapter deals particularly with ex-Yugoslav migrants because their situation seems to be especially pressing. Also other epochs need to be studied, such as the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, with migrants from Bohemia, Galicia, Hungary, and also the territories that later became part of a Yugoslav state. Their voices have hardly ever been heard in Vienna.
