22,000 registered participants and 4.5 million documents processed so far. Dr. Christiane Heß (Foundation of Hamburg Memorials and Learning Centres) presented the interdisciplinary database for concentration camp artefacts at the Ravensbrück concentration camp memorial site, which now comprises of 160 objects, which is to be made accessible to a wider public as an open access resource . The central approach of the database is to work out the different levels of meaning of the artefacts and then to make them searchable. Martina Staats (JVA Wolfenbüttel Memorial) presented the digital and interactive elements in the JVA Wolfenbüttel permanent exhibition . The digital elements became the most important items in guiding visitors through the exhibition. The starting point for the project "Voices of the Victims" presented by Dr. Karola Fings (University of Heidelberg) was the fact that the history of the National Socialist persecution and extermination of Sinti and Roma people has so far been told almost exclusively from the perspective of the perpetrators. In the centre of the project initiated and carried out in particular by members of the community, are therefore the self-representations of those affected. In the following discussion the problems of collaboration, resources and common standards were discussed: How can a permanent online presence be guaranteed? How can data(bases) of different institutions be connected with one another? What data is suitable for online presentation?
The second day of the conference began with a discussion moderated by Dr. Iris Groschek (Foundation of Hamburg Memorials and Learning Centres) on the theme of ‘Social Media and Educational Opportunities’. Dr. Tobias Ebbrecht-Hartmann (The Hebrew University of Jerusalem) discussed the contribution of social media for a participatory memory, especially taking into account the platform TikTok. He sees social media platforms as important elements when looking at the future remembrance of the Holocaust. The question is how good memorial sites are at translating their analogue content into the logic of social media and thus creating a virtual memory space as their own part in the diverse and communicative world of memory and remembrance as well as stimulating discourse. Tessa Bouwman (Bergen-Belsen Memorial) presented the Instagram tours of the Bergen-Belsen memorial that begun after the closing of the memorial due to Corona in spring
2020 and which have been able to generate high coverage even with simple means. Relatively few research studies have investigated the potential of Holocaust museums' use of social media as new memory ecologies. The empirical education researcher Dr. Martin Rehm (Pedagogical University of Weingarten) dealt with the evaluation of social media data for digital Holocaust memory on a methodological level and was able to give tips on where to find the gaps in the priorities of institutions on social media platforms. Pia Schlechter (University of Oldenburg) discussed negotiating the (in)appropriateness of selfies. Inequalities would have an influence on the assessment of this (e.g. homosexual vs heterosexual, young vs old, German vs non-German memorial visitors). The following stimulating discussion picked up on the panellists, in which amongst other things, the responsibility of memorials to make certain topics more visible was talked about. Digital formats do not reflect analogue offerings, but rather through their cross-border, barrier-free approaches, create new potential for participation.
In a roundtable conversation, moderated by Prof. Dr, Habbo Knoch, Andreas Ehresmann (Sandbostel Camp Memorial), Prof. Dr. Detlef Garbe (Foundation of Hamburg Memorials and Learning Centres), Dr. Andrea Genest (Memorial Museum Ravensbrück) and Juliane Grossmann (Nazi Forced Labor Documentation Center), as representatives of different memorials exchanged insights from the conference. There was agreement amongst the participants that digital offerings should be considered as an extension or as something independent when compared to the concrete places of remembrance. Digital formats not only served to open up new target groups, but also corresponded to a change in expectations while also enabling participatory approaches. The Corona pandemic has fortunately accelerated many digitalisation processes. However, there would still be a need for action in terms of resources or technical equipment. There is also the need for action with regard to the more difficult access to resources for smaller memorial sites. Furthermore, the participants also discussed ways to improve such as networking, increased efforts in the area of open source data and efforts in the area of change management. The conference ended with a view on the increasing relevance of memorial work in the digital space.
Text: Lennart Onken, Lisa Webner, Iris Groschek
Translation: Daniel Cartwright