The concept for the project come from during a trip to the United States by NRW Science Minister Ina Brandes last year, when she and TU President Professor Manfred Bayer checked out the Illinois Holocaust Museum in Chicago and experienced how moving an encounter with Holocaust survivors through a hologram can be. This triggered the minister’s idea that North Rhine-Westphalia likewise requires such a location of remembrance and knowing– a strategy that immediately met with the unreserved approval of all those included, for the Holocaust and the suffering caused on Jewish people continue to shape German history even 80 years after completion of the National Socialist regime of horror.
The remembrance of these atrocities, combined with the call to raise one’s voice against antisemitism and bigotry, stays one of the withstanding tasks of German remembrance culture. “HOLO-VOICES permits Holocaust survivors to speak. We require their genuine accounts in order to gain a sense of the suffering they withstood– and of the regret borne by those who went along or stayed silent,” states Ina Brandes. Because their stories and experiences make the fear of National Socialism tangible, individual encounters and conversations with eyewitnesses are of inestimable value. As just a couple of them are still alive, the goal of HOLO-VOICES is to utilize the remaining time to protect their stories for future generations and make them experientially available.
Technical and Journalistic Job Leadership at TU Dortmund University
Using modern-day technology, the initial video recordings of eyewitnesses are predicted so masterfully that the quality of the display is comparable to that of a hologram. Artificial intelligence will enable visitors to interact with Holocaust survivors and inquire concerns. The AI will then determine the proper original reaction, which the eyewitnesses had formerly given in interviews. At the Institute of Journalism, Dr. Susanne Wegner and Prof. Wiebke Möhring, together with student Fabia Lulis and the association ZWEITZEUGEN e. V., assembled an extensive brochure of questions in order to perform additional interviews with Holocaust survivors in cooperation with TU Dortmund University’s media designers. The Data processing is collaborated by a team led by Prof. Mario Botsch from the Department of Computer Science. “As a leading organization of AI research, we are contributing our proficiency with terrific dedication to make it possible for youths to engage in dialogue with Holocaust eyewitnesses on a lasting basis. HOLO-VOICES has actually ended up being an interdisciplinary research study project for us. Together, specialists in journalism and AI are dealing with historians to make an important contribution against antisemitism and racism,” states TU President Prof. Manfred Bayer.
The first interview has currently been performed at TU Dortmund University, particularly with Eva Weyl. In 1942, she was deported to Westerbork, known as the “entrance to hell,” as it functioned as a transit camp to extermination camps such as Auschwitz-Birkenau. She was freed by Canadian soldiers in 1945. “The modern-day innovation with AI is fantastic. By doing this I can assist guarantee that history is protected. Especially to youths I want to state: You should understand the past in order to help protect peace. Stand up against intolerance, versus disrespect, and versus deterioration,” states the eyewitness. 2 interviews conducted several years back by the German Exile Archive 1933-1945 of the German National Library will also now be utilized for the hologram innovation.
Supported by Structures
Numerous sponsors have actually been secured for this project, which is unique in Europe: the RAG Structure, the Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach Foundation, and the Brost Structure are contributing around 35 percent of the total expenses of approximately 3.2 million euros. The remaining funding is being provided by the Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia.
Exhibits to Open at Zollverein in January 2026
“HOLO-VOICES– encounter – ask – pass it on” will be inaugurated on 27 January 2026, the Day of Remembrance for the Victims of National Socialism, by Minister-President Hendrik Wüst at the UNESCO World Heritage Website Zollverein. At the start of the exhibition, the holograms of Inge Auerbacher and Kurt Salomon Maier from the German Exile Archive 1933– 1945 of the German National Library will exist, accompanied by the exhibition “Request!”. In addition, the association ZWEITZEUGEN will curate the exhibit “Underground– Under Pressure” on required labor in coal mining, produced in cooperation with the Ruhr Museum.