Allemann, L. The sami of the Kola Peninsula : about the life of an ethnic minority in the Soviet Union / Lukas Allemann ; [transl. by Michael Lomax]. - Rovaniemi : University of Lapland Printing Centre, 2013. - 151 p. : ill., map, portr. ; 25 см. - (Senter for samiske studier, Skriftserie ; 19).

The Sami of the Kola Peninsula The interpretative work of the historian needs therefore to satisfy both requirements. On the one hand we need to understand the everyday certainties of our interlocutor - which may or may not be implicit - and on the other hand we need to present the­ se everyday certainties in an explicit manner. 2.2.2 Experienced vs. narrated life history Our own story is always just one viewpoint, one image formed and expressed of a past reality and cannot be identical to it. This applies not only to the statements of historians, but also the stories of our interviewees. There is no one objective truth. In court, witnesses can and should tell only what they have seen, what they have perceived. Although this does not necessarily correspond to what actually occurred, we must assume, if they are honest citizens, that they are telling the truth, their truth, what they remember. Basically, the judge has to work with three levels: 1) the wit­ nesses' statements, what they communicate or what they conceal, consciously or unconsciously, and the current memories underlying these statements; 2) the expe­ riences of the witnesses at the time itself, which can differ from both level 1 (due to the ever-changing memory) and from 3) what actually happened. It is the same with historical sources and thus also with the oral history inter­ views used here: "The texts that 'bear witness' to the past are not the past itself "45 "If today the witnesses of former times no longer remember, or continue to at­ tempt to prevent the experienced scenes penetrating into memory, then they are not lying, but are being truthful. "46 One can imagine in this context, for example, glorifying statements about Stalinism, like those often found in Russia among representatives of the older generation. Even if an informant doggedly keeps silent about the horrors of the Stalinist era and talks only of the calm and orderly circumstances, his statements are true, for it is his 45Gerbel/Sieder 1988, 193. 46Rosenthal 1994, 131. Senterfor samiske studier, Skriftserie nr. 19 17