Rachel Rosenman-Ofer has been the CEO of Beit Haedut (the Testimony House) since 2019. Throughout her career, she worked as a director of resource development at ALUT,
as a screenwriter, as a project manager at a Jewish school, and also served in the Israeli Army. She has also recently returned to school as a master's student in Holocaust research.
The Testimony House in Nir Galim was founded in 1991 by Auschwitz survivors who came from Hungary and settled in Israel after the war. They welcome approximately 43,000 visitors a year, with the majority being young people and high school students from Israel. During
the presentation, several aspects of the visit to the Testimony House were discussed, including those that incorporate new technology.
Since the pandemic, they have been offering a guided tour of Birkenau using virtual reality goggles. Initially, it was planned as a project for those who cannot or do not wish to come
to Poland. The team from the Testimony House visited the Auschwitz-Birkenau museum
to film for a week and decided to follow the same route as the guided tour to be as close
as possible to the physical tour provided there. The VR experience gives participants
the impression that they are actually walking at the site. A decision was made to exclude Auschwitz from the VR representation to avoid making the experience too lengthy. This way, visitors would only receive partial information about both sites rather than a complete picture, which is why they decided to focus solely on Birkenau.
The Testimony House's visit combines the virtual tour with a real guided tour led
by an educator. The aim is to strike a balance between a visit rooted in modern times
by meeting the technological preferences of younger generations and the need for a guide
to facilitate deeper and more personal interactions.
A VR tool provides a powerful experience. If it's well done, it captures the visitors' attention, making them feel engaged and eager to learn. It physically transports them to another place and evokes their feelings, senses, and empathy. This project conveys the vastness
and the horror of the former camp. However, during the development process, there was caution not to depict any horror, people, or animation. The movie lasts for thirteen minutes, and participants are given time to ‘land’ and process what they saw, as it is a highly immersive experience. The Testimony House is equipped with thirty-eight VR sets that can be used simultaneously, allowing an entire group to experience it together. Rachel Rosenman-Ofer presented the key elements to consider for the realization of a VR project. First and foremost, the budget represents a substantial amount, but no compromises or shortcuts can be made
to produce a worthwhile VR experience. Second, technologically, it must be well thought out. The thirty-eight VR sets can be activated remotely through an app using a tablet, ensuring that all participants begin and end their experience at the same moment. Finally, it is essential to work in an interdisciplinary manner to create a product that combines technology, methodology, and pedagogy to ensure that no aspect is left out.
So far, the VR experience has been well received by visitors. Even those who have never used virtual reality before may be overwhelmed, but it resonates with people of all ages. It is
a highly effective technology. After the VR experience, visitors explore the ‘Barrack Exhibition’ with a guide, where they learn about the prisoners' living conditions in Birkenau.
For the House of Testimony, as with other institutions, survivors are not able to visit as often as before to meet with each group and share their testimonies. That's why the museum decided to invest in the creation of holograms of survivors giving testimony. These holograms are not interactive, but they give the impression that the survivor is sitting in front of the audience. Each testimony lasts between thirty and forty minutes. Another project that visitors encounter during their tour is the 'glass house.' It is an interactive performance that tells the story of the largest Budapest rescue operation during the Holocaust. Participants face choices throughout this activity, using a remote control to vote for decisions. The museum's latest project during the pandemic was to acquire an original cattle car from a German Holocaust museum. At the beginning of the visit, the entire class enters the train car to become familiar with the transportation conditions and learn about the entire process that led victims to Auschwitz-Birkenau. One of the main goals of the House of Testimony is not to focus on the horrors but to highlight glimpses of hope and optimism. They want to show that great acts of kindness also happened among people as they helped each other. By no means are the VR tour or the other activities during the visit intended to make participants identify with the victims.