Johannes Barth: Vibrant Memory Production: Eine neomaterialistische Analyse der Produktionsweisen interaktiver 3D-Zeugnisse von Überlebenden der NS Verbrechen

Few terms are so closely associated with the Holocaust than that of contemporary witness.  Whether as speakers at commemorative events or involved in (extracurricular) democracy and human rights education, contemporary witnesses fulfil a specific role: they make history more tangible and enable empathy with their stories. Those stories convey the significance of the suffering experienced and lend a personal character to the historiography of Nazi crimes, which is often perceived as abstract. Any current discussion of the future of remembrance of Nazi crimes inevitably involves digital formats ranging from augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) through to computer games. This paper explores how these formats work and asks more fundamentally how the ‘effects’ of the testimonies come about in the first place and what this digital practice means for the culture of remembrance of Nazi crimes.

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