On February 7th, 2024, Holocaust survivor Inge Auerbacher visited the Goethe-Institut New York. She presented her life story and enaged in conversation with attending students and teachers of German. It was a great honor and an unforgettable experience for everyone in attendance, and her words deeply impressed and touched us all. You can watch a recording of this event here.
Her life story and the messages she has to share are invaluable and serve as a source of inspiration and courage for us all. She has shown us the importance of never losing hope and always standing up for what is good in the world. Taking up her appeal, we have now also re-named our educational series that covers topics of anti-discrimination "Do something!".
Additionally, during the event, we were honored to hear from Stephen Smith, the Chief Executive Officer of Storyfile, who created the Tell me, Inge VR experience, in partnership with UNESCO, the World Jewish Congress and the Claims Conference. "Tell me, Inge" is an immersive, dialogic XR experience based on the memories of Holocaust survivor Inge Auerbacher. Users can experience Inge Auerbacher's testimony in VR and 360 WEBXR and ask her questions. The project combines StoryFile's "Conversational Video AI" technology with hand-drawn 3D 360-degree animations. This tool is accessible via both browser and VR, giving users flexibility to use the program in different formats and in different curricular contexts. The Claims Conference has carefully created teacher materials that are publicly available.
We will use this workshop as an opportunity to give practical instructions to German educators as to how to use the Tell me, Inge experience with VR goggles.
