- Title: AUSCHWITZ-MULTIMEDIA Auschwitz introduces multimedia elements to memorials
- Date: 15th June 2015
- Summary: VARIOUS OF VISITORS INSIDE BARACK EXTERIOR OF BARRACKS VISITORS AND BARRACKS SEEN THROUGH BARBED WIRE (SOUNDBITE) (Polish) AUSCHWITZ-BIRKENAU MEMORIAL AND MUSEUM PRESS OFFICER, BARTOSZ BARTYZEL, SAYING: "It is important to know the area, to know the history of Auschwitz. But extremely important and the most important is to give voice to witnesses. This is one of the most i
- Embargoed: 30th June 2015 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Poland
- Country: Poland
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVA96TCCB43I9J548OMJ1HDRU9IB
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Auschwitz - whose name is synonymous with some of the most grievous horrors of World War II - has introduced multimedia elements to its memorials to allow witnesses and survivors to communicate directly with visitors on their mobile phones.
Around 1.5 million people, mainly European Jews, were gassed, shot, hanged and burned at the camp in southern Poland during World War Two, before the Red Army entered its gates in winter 1945.
The camp's victims included, among others, Roma, homosexuals and all shades of political opposition to the Nazis.
World leaders joined around 300 Auschwitz survivors at the site in January, for a ceremony marking 70 years since the camp's liberation.
The gathering in southern Poland marked perhaps the last major anniversary that survivors of the camp will be able to attend in numbers, given the youngest are now in their 70s.
But Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum Press Officer, Bartosz Bartyzel, said they are hoping that a new combination of scannable QR codes and survivor videos will help their testimonies live on.
"There are QR codes in some places we can scan and connect to a free WiFi network, which it is shared by us. We can listen to accounts by former prisoners and, thanks to their voices, we can learn about their camp experiences about what they went through in Auschwitz-Birkenau," he said.
The project involves videos collated from a number of different witness stories which have survived on tape. Historians from the museum decided to use them and created the special application allowing visitors to see and hear the former concentration camp prisoners as guides.
"At the moment, we are in an empty barrack, but it's hard to imagine that here in this hut, 400-500 people lived," survivor Bodgan Bartnikowski says in one video.
The QR codes, compatible with mobile phones and tablets, have been placed on several information boards located around the site and are available in Polish, English and French.
Large numbers of films and books have been produced about Auschwitz-Birkenau, but Bartyzel said that not everyone will have the opportunity to meet and listen to former prisoners who went through the horrors themselves.
"It is important to know the area, to know the history of Auschwitz. But extremely important and the most important is to give voice to witnesses. This is one of the most important evidence of that, of what happened during the war. Therefore, there is now the opportunity on the one hand, to explore the place and get to know if, and on the other hand, at the same time you can listen to the stories of those who survived," Bartyzel said.
Visitor Dirk Anke from Dresden said he had read a great deal about the place before coming, but that the opportunity of directly engaging with videos of survivors could be a new way of telling the story to younger generations.
"Different ways of communicating what happened here work and I'm interested in it. But maybe the access to young people's minds could be, could be better like that. I don't know how they think, you know, but it's worth trying, definitely," Anke said.
Another visitor, Anna Frankowska, agreed that the new memorial project is ideal for young people.
"This is something you cannot embrace in thoughts. For someone normal it is unimaginable. Therefore, we should do things like this project because time is running out. The young generations know this history more or less from school. Well, this must be remembered, mustn't it? It's the story of our ancestors. It must survive until the end," Frankowska said.
Annually, the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum is visited by about 1.5 million people from around the world. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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