University of Sussex awarded £3.5m for digital Holocaust Remembrance project

The University of Sussex has been granted more than £3.5 million to establish one of the world’s largest Holocaust Remembrance research projects.

To be based at the university, the Landecker Digital Memory Lab will focus on researching how digital technology can be used to memorialise the Holocaust.

The grant was awarded by the Alfred Landecker Foundation, established in Berlin in 2019 to remember the Holocaust, fight antisemitism and defend democracy.

It’s the foundation’s largest ever grant in the field of Holocaust Remembrance research.

Operating over a five-year period, the Landecker Digital Memory Lab will explore how Holocaust museums, memorials and archives can make better use of digital technologies like virtual, augmented and mixed reality, computer games, and AI and machine learning to ensure the Holocaust continues to be commemorated long into the future.

One of its core aims will be to help professionals in Holocaust education and memory organisations to better understand and make use of digital media.  

Dr. Victoria Grace Walden is a senior lecturer in media at the University of Sussex and principal investigator for the Landecker Digital Memory Lab project.

“We’re honoured to spearhead this pivotal project, which seeks to harness the power of digital technologies to preserve and perpetuate the memory of the Holocaust on a global scale”, she said.

“The establishment of the Digital Memory Lab heralds a new chapter in the digitalisation of Holocaust memory, marking a shift in how we engage with this important history.

“With its ambitious objectives and collaborative ethos, the project holds promise in shaping the future of Holocaust remembrance internationally.”

The lab aims to curate a collection of projects and experiences to form a ‘living database’, which will serve as a valuable resource for academics, professionals and tech innovators. 

It will also establish an online journal, a series of international networking events to foster collaboration and knowledge exchange among stakeholders, and a suite of digital training and activities.

Lena Altman, co-CEO of the Alfred Landecker Foundation, added: “When we deeply understand the Holocaust and what led to it, we’re better able to recognize threats to democracy today.

“We’re therefore very pleased to help establish the Landecker Digital Memory Lab at the University of Sussex.

“The lab will promote research on digital Holocaust memory and bring together the international expertise needed to make Holocaust commemoration fit for the digital age.”