After all, interest in digital history education is no longer a marginal phenomenon. A representative nationwide survey of adults in Germany commissioned by the Alfred Landecker Foundation in May 2024 confirmed the relevance of digital offerings. 58% of respondents consider them either important or very important when informing themselves about the history of Nazism in Germany. Among those aged 18-39, that figure is as high as 67.5%.
These figures also show that we are experiencing great shifts in Digital Holocaust Memory. As early as 2020, Dutch historian Susan Hogervorst wrote that public memory of the Holocaust was entering the era of the user, meaning that cultural institutions keeping these memories alive could increasingly lose their previous authority over the topic (Hogervorst 2020: 172). AI researcher Mykola Makhortykh, on the other hand, argues that we are already in the “platform era”, because "platform-based infrastructures transform how the past is preserved and perceived by individuals" (Makhortykh 2023).
Current challenges and trends
Acutely aware of this context, the challenges for digital history education as historical-political education will be considered below. Starting with the presentation of new actors in the digital space, three key developments in this area are described.
New players in the digital space
In addition to the traditional institutions of remembrance culture such as memorials, universities and museums, new actors are playing an increasingly central role. Even though "non-specialist" stakeholders such as the Shoa Foundation, game studios and filmmakers have always been involved in Holocaust education, the digital age has seen a marked increase in this trend. Media companies, social media platforms, creators and, above all, private individuals haven offered numerous innovative options in recent years, which have often found and continue to find a large audience. At the same time, popular success does not always — at least from the perspective of Erinnerungskultur institutions and their staff — imply quality. This can be seen, for example, in the two Instagram accounts "Eva Stories" and "ichbinsopiescholl" (I am Sophie Scholl). The former was initiated and financed by Israeli tech entrepreneur Mati Kochavi and his daughter Maya, the latter by German public broadcasters SWR and BR. In both cases, confident claims had been published in advance (in the case of "Eva Stories", for example, "What if a girl in the holocaust had Instagram?"), which were subsequently only partially honoured. Ultimately, both projects essentially broadcast a feature film over Instagram, simulating the use of the social media platform sometimes better, sometimes less so. The clips operate in a constant field of tension between the pretence of historical authenticity and, in some cases, strong fictionalisation. A tension that was not, however, reflected by the producers. The subsequent criticism of the two projects had no impact on their quantitative success, as hundreds of thousands of users watched the posts and stories about the two young women.
This clearly shows that we have indeed entered the “era of the user” (Susan Hogervorst) - because by interacting with the accounts — especially with “ichbinsophiescholl” — users themselves become protagonists of Erinnerungskultur. As a result, the moderation of user comments and community management become important aspects of digital education work. However, neither the creators of “Eva Stories” nor of "ichbinsophiescholl" appreciated the expertise collected over many years of memorial education and history didactics. Instead, questionable narratives, for example about the trivialisation of German guilt, were perpetuated in the comment columns. Despite their great success, the two projects must therefore also be seen as missed opportunities.
Frenchman Luc Bernard attracted just as much media attention in the summer of 2023 with his Holocaust Museum "Voices of the Forgotten", created to the mould of the co-op shooter Fortnite. Unfortunately, the quality of the texts in this digital museum did not even come close to that of Wikipedia overview articles, not to mention the completely inadequate didactic presentation. The extent to which the project has reached players beyond the media hype is questionable. Nonetheless, Erinnerungskultur institutions need to ask themselves why they did not previously think of using a platform like Fortnite to embed content on the history of the Holocaust.
Overall, we find that the successful formats of new players rely heavily on personalisation and easily accessible or quickly consumable content (“snackable content”). In particular, the use of popular platforms such as Instagram and Fortnite often reaches digital target groups better than the offerings of traditional Erinnerungskultur institutions. Despite the need for a critical view on new channels, formats and content, established stakeholders must adapt to digital realities in order to remain relevant and ensure high-quality historical education in the digital space.
Video formats: the most popular medium
In the rapidly evolving landscape of digital Erinnerungskultur, videos have emerged as a particularly popular format for communicating Nazi era history and the Holocaust. Their appeal stems not only from the vivid presentation of complex historical contexts, but also their potential to reach a wider audience: At 38%, (online) documentaries are the most widely used format in this context. In addition to documentary formats previously televised conventionally through public broadcasters, it is now online services that attract the interest of users. Choices range from professionally produced explanatory videos such as those by Mirko Drotschmann (“Mr.Wissen2Go”) and entertaining TikTok clips by creators such as Susanne Siegert (“keine.erinnerungskultur”) to documentary formats and virtual live tours of memorial sites. Almost all major holocaust memorials in German-speaking countries are now on TikTok in particular and reach considerably large audiences — especially compared to the otherwise used social media channels.
Despite these successes, traditional players in digital Erinnerungskultur face considerable challenges. These include not getting lost in the sheer amount of material available. For example, more than 500 hours’ worth of video are uploaded onto YouTube every minute. It is often not the traditional Erinnerungskultur institutions, but influencers, vloggers and independent creators such as Susanne Siegert or Leonie Schöler (“heeyleonie”) who reach the greatest audience through content which indeed is of very high quality. This raises the question of how traditional players can optimise their online presence in order to survive in the attention economy of the internet. The Arolsen Archives, for example, have decided to collaborate with the two creators mentioned above for their learning platform “und heute?” (“how about today?”) in order to benefit from the reach of these creators. The House of the Wannsee Conference Memorial, too, has produced video formats in collaboration with Mirko Drotschmann.
In addition to the challenge of achieving reach, another problem is that interaction and opportunities for the audience to participate remain limited or underutilised in many video formats, especially on YouTube. This reluctance however is not unfounded: Studies such as Mykola Makhortykh’s analysis of history content on YouTube show that hate speech can significantly limit the platform's potential as an interactive memorial space (Makhortykh 2019: 458). Previous experience shows that the promotion of constructive interaction and the simultaneous moderation of problematic posts is primarily restricted by available resources.
Overall, video formats do bear enormous potential for digital remembrance culture. However, to fully leverage this potential, Erinnerungskultur
institutions need to rethink and improve their social media strategies. As Tomasz Łysak aptly points out: “Traditional institutions do not use social media to its full potential” (Łysak 2022: 379). It is important to strike a balance between contemporary and target group-appropriate presentation, depth of content and space for interaction.
New major projects: Digital games and extended reality (XR)
Another current development is the publication of numerous elaborate projects in the field of digital games and XR applications. While the first publication of an interactive 3D interview with Holocaust survivor Pinchas Gutter in 2015 was a real novelty and triggered global discussions, augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) applications as well as digital “remembrance games” are now almost standard in digital history education. This development not only reflects technological advances, but also points to growing curiosity vis-à-vis the potential of these media in conveying historical content. To an extent far greater than earlier approaches to digital Holocaust education, these formats can lead to an actual transformation by breaking fresh ground and operating within the logic of digital platforms and spaces — in contrast to transferring (transferring analogue 1:1 into digital) and transitioning (i.e. merely transferring previous forms of commemoration and adapting them to the logic of digital and/or social media, see Ebbrecht-Hartmann 2021: 9).
Nevertheless, a wide range of approaches can be observed in the field of digital games, ranging from serious games to commercial formats with historical content. Initially, games were designed by established Erinnerungskultur stakeholders in the style of a visual novel, offering a blend of a touching visual narrative and minimal playful elements. These outputs do not provide users with any true room to actively engage with the story. As a result, such games are more often used in a school context than by young people in their free time. More recent projects such as “Erinnern. The Children of Bullenhuser Damm” accept and incorporate this criticism. Although this game is also aimed at schoolchildren, playful elements are given much more emphasis here.
There are also interesting developments in the field of augmented and virtual reality. For many years, the AR site guide at the Bergen Belsen concentration camp memorial site was the sole instance of a memorial venue applying such technology, but such applications are becoming increasingly standard in the communication of historical content at memorial locations (e.g. at the Dachau or Sachsenhausen concentration camp memorial sites). They allow for the exploration of additional layers of meaning without major physically interventions at the memorial sites. One challenge for the future will be to integrate this technology so seamlessly into the visit that it is perceived as a natural part of the exhibition.
VR applications such as the Brandenburg programme “In Echt? - Virtuelle Begegnung mit NS-Zeitzeug*innen” (“For Real? - Virtual Encounters with Eye Witnesses of the Nazi Era”) demonstrate the continuing trend towards presenting Holocaust survivors in an immersive form. Nevertheless, even such successful projects reveal the limits of the technology: interaction often remains superficial and users move within narrowly defined paths, which limits opportunities for active engagement. Younger target groups in particular view this critically. The “Frag Nach, Just Ask” exhibition in the German Exile Archive 1933-1945 at the German National Library is currently the closest to realising the interactive potential of digital survivor reports. The digital interviews with Inge Auerbacher and Kurt S. Maier forego VR/3D presentation and instead focus on the - ideally seamless - simulation of the dialogue between visitors and eyewitnesses from the time. Several elaborate VR applications have also recently been published in English-speaking countries or will be released soon. These, too, focus on survivors, but also reconstruct historical sites (e.g. “Testimony 360” by the Holocaust Educational Trust, “Inside Kristallnacht” by the Claims Conference or “The Journey Back” at the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Centre).
Overall, digital games and XR applications clearly hold great Erinnerungskultur potential. At the same time, they present producers with considerable challenges, both in terms of technology and content. When developing such large-scale projects, it is important to take a self-critical look at the results to ascertain if the added educational value vis-à-vis conveying history warrants the effort involved in these formats.
Ten recommendations for digital Erinnerungskultur practice and for teaching the Holocaust in the digital space
As the examples above indicate, the digital communication of the Holocaust is progressing rapidly. To fully leverage the potential of these technologies and at the same time deal with them in the interest of the best possible historical-political education, the following ten recommendations may be a starting point, especially for Erinnerungskultur institutions.
- Devise long-term strategies:
It is particularly important for cultural heritage institutions to move away from short-term, project-based thinking and instead establish sustainable digital mediation strategies. Digital mediation should be seen as a permanent pillar of educational work. - Expand digital expertise:
Established Erinnerungskultur actors must expand their expertise in the field of (conveying) Erinnerungskultur online. This is the only way they could critically guide current developments and boost the digital literacy of their users. - Treat marketing and content equally:
When developing digital formats, marketing must be given as much attention as the content itself. - Address new target groups:
Digital communication must not be focussed exclusively on young people. Instead, all age groups must be addressed through target group-specific output in the digital space. - Promote interaction and participation:
Actors in the culture of remembrance must intensify the dialogue with users in the digital space and pursue the goal of building communities. Interaction should be seen as an opportunity and not a risk. - Intensify research and evaluation:
There is an urgent need for scientific monitoring and evaluation of digital programmes to research their educational effectiveness and their influence on Erinnerungskultur as a whole. - Integrate proven educational concepts:
Previous achievements and findings in memorial site education should not be neglected, but should be transferred to the digital space and further developed to suit the specific programme. - Expand cooperation:
Both sides can benefit from increased cooperation between established institutions and new players. - Create references to the present:
Digital formats should aim to a greater extent to build bridges between the past and the present. Even more than in the offline sphere, historical-political education can benefit from the opportunities brought about by a wider reach for work relating to the present-day. - Innovative and responsible design:
Stakeholders should strive to develop genuine digital formats that go beyond the mere reconstruction of historical locations or offline formats and seize the potential advantages of digital platforms in an innovative and independent manner towards Erinnerungskultur.
These ten recommendations highlight the complexity of innovative and qualitative digital education. However, if Erinnerungskultur actors want to yield lasting impact in the digital space, serious efforts and sufficient resources are indispensable. Regardless of whether we are in an era of users or an era of platforms: teaching the history of the Holocaust in the digital space offers untapped potential that needs to be realised at this stage and going forward.
Steffen Jost is Head of Programme at the Alfred Landecker Foundation. A historian and memorial educator, he has been working on digital approaches to teaching the history related to the Nazi era for over ten years.
This text was published (in German) in the LaG-Magazin on October 30, 2024. The magazine is available here.
Literature
Ebbrecht-Hartmann, Tobias: Commemorating from a distance: the digital transformation of Holocaust memory in times of COVID-19, in: Media, Culture & Society, Vol. 43 (2021), H. 6, pp. 1-18.
Hogervorst, Susan: The era of the user. Testimonies in the digital age, Rethinking History, vol. 24 (2020), no. 2, pp. 169-183.
Makhortykh, Mykola: The user is dead, long live the platform? Problematising the user-centric focus of (digital) memory studies, in: Memory Studies 16 (2023), H. 6, pp. 1500-1512.
Makhortykh, Mykola: Nurturing the pain: audiovisual tributes to the Holocaust on YouTube, Holocaust Studies, vol. 25 (2019), p. 4, pp. 441-466.
Łysak, Tomasz: Vlogging Auschwitz: new players in Holocaust commemoration, in: Holocaust Studies, vol. 28 (2022), no. 3, pp. 377-402.