Silence in a personal account also creates questions for historians. Was the writer in a position to know about the event? If not, the omission may show how information moved, or failed to move, through the organisation. If the writer should have known, historians can ask why the event was ignored. The writer may have been hiding personal involvement or trying to avoid being tainted by it. An omission alone does not prove concealment, but the writer's access to information helps determine what the silence can show.
Chapter · 1:27-2:00
What a source's silence can reveal
When an account ignores an event, historians ask whether the writer lacked access to it or had a reason to conceal it.