About Us

In 1997, Anita Hecht founded LIFE HISTORY SERVICES with the mission of helping others honor the past, capture the present, and inform the future. An interest sparked as a Fulbright scholar in West Germany, she first began recording oral histories in 1995 with Steven Spielberg’s Visual History Foundation of the Holocaust. She conducted over 40 videotaped interviews with Holocaust survivors around the globe in English, Spanish, and German.

Ever since then, she has been actively working to helping individuals, families, communities, public institutions, businesses, and others record and preserve their unique stories. She has produced hundreds of memoirs and oral history archives in print, audio, video, and multimedia formats across the USA, Latin America, and Europe. She works directly with each client on project design, interviewing, and production. Most importantly, she brings practiced guidance, intellectual curiosity, and deep listening to her work. Click here for more about her background and experience.

Click to view ‘Past Clients’

You know how to make your interviewee comfortable and your questions come at the right time—they do not interrupt thought, but keep the conversation flowing; moreover, they lead to substantive answers.

Louis Heilbron

Attorney-Educator, California

Anita Hecht recently presented her life history work in a panel about writing memoirs at our college. Her professionalism and expertise was immediately obvious. She not only understands the societal importance of recording our personal histories but also the integrity and quality with which those stories are told — in terms of presentation, respecting the goals of her clients, and creating a well-crafted narrative. The audience left feeling both enlightened and inspired by her work.

Guy

College Educator, Wisconsin

Your expertise not only in the interviewing part, but in lighting, positioning, was impressive. I felt like a film star being directed by an expert director.

Golda

Philanthropist, California

Being videotaped was so much easier than I had anticipated. Many of my concerns were eliminated at our first preliminary meeting.

Raymond Marks

Banker, California

It’s been a wonderful experience. One great advantage of an oral history conducted by a pro, like yourself, is you think at the time you know everything you’re going to say and remember. And then in the context of a focused, professional interview, a light goes on and you remember things that had been buried. We’re talking about the obvious, and suddenly, buried, hidden under the obvious, is new stuff. It’s wonderful!”

Kenneth Roy Feinberg

Attorney, Special Master, 911 Victim Compensation Fund

I thank you very much for the interest you placed in this work, based on your intelligent and skillful questions that did not interrupt the flow of the conversation, but were inserted at the appropriate places.

Rina

Daughter, Mexico

All we can say is that we were overwhelmed! The videos and print biographies were beautifully done, the music was most appropriate and, according to our three children, we looked great! Seeing ourselves on the video and sharing many experiences that we had never shared with our children was beautiful. We wouldn’t want to change anything.

Katy & Shawki Ibrahim

Educator & Engineer, Parents & Grandparents, Indiana

My siblings and I used your services 16 years ago to record my parents’ life histories as a gift for their 60^th anniversary; however, I have found, particularly in the 4 years since my mother’s death that having this recorded hour with her where she blossoms back to life has been a treasure that I value more than words could adequately express. As a ritual that I now hold sacred, I watch the video twice a year.

Margot Keen

Ms. Hecht created an atmosphere of trust and comfort, both of which helped me to relate the rather difficult yet significant experiences of my life.

Hans

Holocaust Survivor, Wisconsin

You have a way of putting your subjects at ease and making them feel as though they and their personal stories are the most important of all the ones you have done.

Marvin Schonberg

Administrator/Writer, California