Holocaust survivors met on the site of the former Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp to mark the 78th anniversary of its liberation. In faraway Jerusalem, virtual reality provided insights into life and death in the extermination camp.
In Poland, west of Krakow, people from all over the world came together on Friday to commemorate the liberation of the former Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp by the Red Army on 27 January 1945. The Nazis had murdered more than a million people here alone. Among those present were Holocaust survivors and former prisoners of the camp.
Capture memories virtually
Virtual reality glasses were used on the 78th anniversary of the liberation in Jerusalem to enable those far away from the memorial to remember. Holocaust survivor Menachem Haberman could not hold back his tears after the virtual tour of the former camp. He had once lost his mother and siblings here. Everything came back to him, he reports. "I saw all these things the whole time and I was reminded of some things that I still can't forget today. How we walked and arrived in Auschwitz and how they carried out the selection and sent my mother and her six children to the gas chamber."
Attention through VR
Jewish filmmaker Miriam Cohen reports that young people should also be reminded of the crimes of the National Socialists. She and her colleagues created the virtual tour of the former camp. "Young people really like this cutting-edge technology. It helps us to get their attention. They put on the glasses and we have them." She wants to get all Jewish people to talk about what happened, but also all non-Jews. So that something like this never happens again, says Cohen. The virtual remembrance via glasses should help to ensure that the horrors of the concentration camps are not forgotten, even among younger people. Because one day, contemporary witnesses like Menachem Haberman will no longer be able to talk about it.
More in the video about the Star website.
Source: Star
Deutsch 
Français 
English (UK) 
Italiano