Bridging history with technology

Students Engage with Holocaust Survivor’s Story through Testimony 360

On Tuesday 19 November year 9 and year 10 students took part in a new workshop led by the Holocaust Memorial Trust. Testimony 360 is an interactive workshop that reflects on the horrors of the Holocaust through the story of Manfred Goldberg, a survivor who settled in London. As the number of survivors of the Holocaust decreases the Testimony 360 project collects their stories and through technology can preserve their witness.

Students were able to ask questions directly to Manfred and through voice-recognition AI; he responded to them. Students were also able to use Virtual Reality headsets to see the key locations in Manfred’s life: his hometown of Kassel, Germany; the Riga Ghetto in Latvia; and the concentration camp of Stutthof in Poland.

Faye L in year 9 said:

Hearing the man’s voice and seeing the places made it seem more real. Its shocking that this happened.