Problems with the new Auschwitz-Birkenau digital camp replica (19459000)
The Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum launched a digital version of the camp at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. The virtual location, titled Picture from Auschwitz is intended to allow filmmakers to film a variety of projects on the site, as preservation laws currently limit filming there to documentary films.
Auschwitz was located in Oswiecim, a town in German-occupied Poland. It consisted of 3 main camps, where more than 1.1 millions European Jews were killed: Auschwitz I, Auschwitz II, (Birkenau), and Auschwitz III, (Monowitz).
The museum wants to use this technology in order to tell the “true” story of the camps, without compromising its historical integrity. The museum will do this by digitally conserving the Holocaust site which is visited by over 2 million people annually. It also plans to submit the scripts of all feature films involving the replica for review by an historians team.
Picture From Auschwitz was launched at Cannes by the panel.
The digitised site shows an Auschwitz I virtual model, which as the name implies, gives a good idea of the barracks, the grounds, and the notorious wrought-iron gates. In a two-minute video, the trailer states that this certified 1:1 digital model is “the biggest and most detailed documentation” of Auschwitz. The interior and exterior environments of Auschwitz I & II will be included.
As the Holocaust survivors age and the heritage sites begin to decay, the project is using digital technology as a way of safeguarding Holocaust memories for the future. This trend has been accelerated due to extreme weathering caused by the climate change crisis.
Cultural institutions are becoming more reliant upon digital tools as the Holocaust fades from the collective memory. Some have relied on virtual reality for digitally reconstructing and maintaining key Holocaust sites while others have turned AI into interactive survivor-holograms.
The use of these technologies in museums, classrooms and schools is gaining popularity.
Ethics
Projects to preserve and enhance Holocaust memorial sites are being developed. These same technologies can also distort the history.
High-profile politicians and scholars have participated in UK public debates on the ethics of digital Holocaust technology, including AI and VR. International bodies such as Unesco and World Jewish Congress report that AI generating algorithms in particular could fuel Holocaust distortion.
The creators of Picture from Auschwitz claim that the project will address these concerns and enable ethical storytelling. Wojciech Szczewica is the director of Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation. He referred to this project as “a powerful example of how technology and culture can work together to prevent distortions and denials of our common human history”. He added that the replica would “preserve Auschwitz’s relevance in history”, and ensure it wouldn’t “fade over time”.
The virtual site preserves the historical depictions and promotes them digitally, but it does not guarantee an ethical response to the Holocaust. Its creation raises questions about how the Holocaust is digitised and whether it goes with ethical representations.
Picture from Auschwitz: A sneak peek
Digital and filmic intervention can only hint at a truly “authentic” portrayal of Holocaust sites or experiences.
The accuracy of the sites is not necessary for an ethical depiction of the Holocaust, even if it were possible. The ethical considerations are not limited to the accuracy of the sites themselves, but also include how stories are told and formal or stylistic aspects. Archie Wolfman, a film researcher, argues that the choices filmmakers make “about angles, lighting, camera movement, and editing” are as important as the story in front of them.
Auschwitz’s legacy must be digitalised to protect it, implying that all the material already available on the site – such as the extant remains of the camp, personal items of the victims and testimonies of survivors – is no longer enough. This also suggests, in a problematic way, that Holocaust history has to keep up with the digital culture if it is going to be relevant.
Digitisation of Auschwitz continues to give priority to some Holocaust stories and sites over others. For example, rural landscapes in central and east Europe that have no visible structures from the past or human remains. Picture from Auschwitz will only show a limited representation of this camp. Auschwitz III and its subcamps, as well as the environment surrounding it are excluded.
The proposed process of script reviews also demonstrates that the Memorial is involved in the cultural narratives surrounding the events. According to the project, only those artistic representations which favour realism are valuable, and Holocaust films deviating from this aesthetic are not considered. The project includes films with a stylised aesthetic, such as Jojo Rabbit (1949), The Cremator (from 1969) and Distant Journey from 1949. The latter was shot in Terezin. This shows that films representing the Holocaust do not need to be based on reality.
This replica reveals tensions between the growing demand from the public for Holocaust cultural production and the difficulties in cultivating an ethical portrayal of this event. The ethical dimension of Holocaust stories has been difficult for many years, and digital innovation, while evolving, makes it even more challenging.
The picture from Auschwitz illustrates the way digital technology is affecting the understanding and dissemination of knowledge about the Holocaust – sometimes not for the best.
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