Esther Rachow presents 'New Paradigms of Holocaust Education in the Digital Age' at the Austria Centre Leiden
In April 2025, Ms. Esther Rachow from The Hebrew University in Jerusalem presenting her ongoing doctoral research at an Austria Centre Leiden lunch-time talk. She answered a few questions about her visit below.
1. What did you present on during your lunch talk at the Austria Centre and how does this presentation connect with your current research and teaching?
At the Austrian Centre in Leiden, I presented a part of my PhD research on 'New Paradigms of Holocaust Education in the Digital Age.' My work develops a transdisciplinary approach to understanding how digital technologies shape the production, reproduction, and transmission of historical knowledge about the Holocaust and Nazi persecution, with particular focus on Western European contexts including Austria. My research bridges digital humanities, social science, and historical methodologies to examine how digital teaching and learning environments transform our understanding of Holocaust history and Nazi persecution. During my talk, I presented a paper I'm currently co-authoring with Professor Tobias Ebbrecht-Hartmann. Our work conceptualizes how the visualization of experiential knowledge—expressed through various prisoner accounts from the Holocaust and Nazi persecution—affects historical knowledge production when implemented in 3D models at Holocaust memorial sites. I explored how diverse fields, including digital Holocaust studies and Holocaust education, connect the physical spaces where atrocities occurred with the narratives of those who suffered there, regarding the significance of spatial memory in Holocaust testimony.
The presentation featured two illustrative examples:
- A VR application reconstructing the Concentration Camp Oranienburg based on the account of a former prisoner (developed by the SPUR.lab initiative)
- A 3D application for exploring prisoner art from the Bergen-Belsen and Westerbork memorial collections (developed by the Horizon_EU MEMORISE project)
I analyzed how different representational modes, interactivity levels, and narrative dimensions can enhance Holocaust education while reflecting on the limitations and unknown factors that emerge when integrating computer-based historical interpretation, interactivity, and digital storytelling.
2. How did your talk resonate with the assembled audience? Did you get interesting questions? How was it to present your research to students from outside your discipline?
The discussion offered fresh perspectives on my research and helped refine my arguments. The interdisciplinary character of the audience demonstrated how scholars and students from across different fields can collectively be interested in the complex relationship between historical memory and digital technologies and discuss the topic from their perspective. The experience reinforced my commitment to communicating research to diverse audiences, particularly given the societal importance of historical education.
3. How did you come to know about the Austria Centre Leiden?
My affiliation with the European Forum at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, which houses the Austrian Studies Center, has provided valuable connections within the Austrian Studies Center's network. Through the support of Director Professor Noam Shoval and Administrative Director Elisheva Moatti, I participated in last year's annual convention of Austrian Studies Centres in Budapest—a city with personal significance as my mother's hometown and place of many family memories. To be able to present in front of this distinguished group of people, in a relatively early stage of my research, has helped me tremendously to focus and specify my approach and I am very thankful for the opportunity - that also connected me to the Austrian Centre in Leiden.