Lessons of Auschwitz

“Lessons of Auschwitz” is a social experiment that aimed to show how history is experienced by younger generations and how it is then retold and reimagined by them through digital art. To mark the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, nine students from a Moscow high school visited the Memorial in Poland to personally undergo this experience. After the trip, they learned under the creative guidance of Russian XR artist Denis Semionov how to express their experiences and reactions using XR film technology. The students amalgamated their impressions into individual, immersive productions and thus created a new kind of commemorative tribute and dealing with the past, which is intended to engage and touch younger viewers and inspire them to learn more about the Holocaust. History, personal emotions and latest technology thus united in a multifaceted manner and emerged as a powerful, engaging website that incorporates the idea of touching the senses in order to sustain historical memory in a digital world.