überLEBENSWEGE: in search of history on our doorstep - in digital spaces of remembrance
© Daniel Freymüller
Today, the places where crimes were committed by the National Socialists are meadows, residential areas, restricted areas, hospitals, schools, commemorative sites or memorials – so the history of Nazi crimes is always on our doorstep, and their impact lingers at the very place where they were perpetrated. So what can we do to address the fact that in rural areas in particular, a lot of these sites are increasingly falling into oblivion?
Taking up this challenge, the project "überLEBENSWEGE" focused on marginalized groups of victims and historical sites in Brandenburg and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, such as the former sanatorium and nursing home Domjüch-Neustrelitz and the satellite camp Schlieben-Berga – interlinking the history of these sites with the stories of their victims.
The project creators specifically developed connecting paths, networks and cross-spatial structures so as to provide a link between the search for local and biographical traces to digital spaces of remembrance. For explorers and educators in the region, the project outcomes include digital film shelves on the eight remembrance sites and also eight #DigiHistoryBoxes – sets of educational materials on the sites of Nazi crimes to be investigated.