We are proud to have launched Testimony 360, a groundbreaking educational initiative which will be rolled out in secondary schools across the country this month. The programme combines digital eyewitness testimony with virtual reality to future-proof the stories of Holocaust survivors.
Testimony 360 is designed to support the history, citizenship and religious studies curriculums and is open to all year 9-13 students. At the heart of the programme is a free in-school workshop where students can have a conversational experience with a Holocaust survivor and see the sites where the Holocaust took place, all without leaving their classroom.
Manfred Goldberg, a 94-year-old survivor from North London, is the first to feature in the programme. He spent five days being filmed within a green screen rig using special volumetric capture cameras, answering more than 1,000 questions.
Students will get the opportunity to ask questions to a digital representation of Manfred. The technology interprets this and plays back the relevant response, giving students the impression of being face-to-face with survivors.
Goldberg describes the technology as a “form of magic”. “Never during those dark days of the Holocaust did I ever imagine that one day I would see myself, and my story, immortalised in this way,” he said.
“I do hope that many thousands of youngsters will have the opportunity of asking me these various questions and will go away believing that, one way or another, hatred can lead to atrocities which have been unprecedented”, he added.
Alongside conversations with survivors, students will be able to virtually visit key sites related to the survivor’s testimony through a virtual reality headset, including ghettoes or concentration camps where they were detained.
Piloted across 15 schools over the last year, over 800 students have so far had the chance to be a part of this innovative programme and once-in-the-lifetime opportunity. Four more Holocaust survivors’ testimonies have been recorded and will soon be available to schools.
A secondary teacher from a school in Leeds commented that “the session was truly outstanding. The quality of the experience for students was like nothing else I have ever seen. It was well-paced and sequenced and allowed students time to explore Manfred’s story and experiences”.
One Year 10 student from London commented on their experience saying that “it gave the Holocaust personal meaning as it connected to a real, visible person instead of a name in a textbook”.
Now’s the chance for your school to get involved as booking is open for the spring term and beyond.
How Testimony 360 works
The programme is delivered in three parts:
- Introduction to Testimony 360: Using our Teacher Pack, teachers will be asked to prepare students for their workshop
- The workshop: The Testimony 360 team will deliver a 2.5-hour workshop using interactive eyewitness testimony and virtual reality (VR) technology
- Reflection session: In the weeks following our visit, teachers will support students to reflect on the Testimony 360 visit, using materials we’ll provide
How to register for your free workshop
The workshops are available to all schools across England, Scotland and Wales, and can be booked now. Register today to secure your space at https://www.het.org.uk/testimony360-signup
About the Holocaust Educational Trust
The Holocaust Educational Trust is a London-based charity. We work to make sure that the millions who were murdered in this dark period of history are remembered, and honour those who survived and continue to tell the world of their experiences. Since 1988, we have worked with schools, universities and communities around the UK to raise awareness and understanding of the Holocaust.
Your thoughts