On June 16, the first of four Persecution Through Their Eyes youth events was held with great success in Camp Vught National Memorial. Animations made by students of the St. Joost School of Art & Design were shown, and participants visited the impactful ‘Persecution Through Their Eyes’ exhibition, immersing themselves in the stories of individuals whose lives were linked to acts of persecution during the Second World War.
Persecution Through Their Eyes is a European Union-funded project that aims to broaden a multi-perspective, transnational understanding of Nazi persecution by shedding light on the diverse experiences of its victims and perpetrators. Among the victims are Jews, Roma/Sinti, political prisoners, homosexuals, prisoners of war, civilians, and resistance fighters.
The project is organised by the LRE Foundation with some prominent project partners: Camp Vught National Memorial (Netherlands), Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora Memorials Foundation (Germany), the National Peace Park of Sant’Anna di Stazzema (Italy), and Grodzka Gate – NN Theatre Centre in Lublin (Poland).
The inaugural youth event provided students with an opportunity to delve into the permanent exhibition of the Camp Vught National Memorial and gain deeper insights into the camp’s history. The event’s key moments were the unveiling of the Persecution Through Their Eyes exhibition and the screening of short films created by the students to animate the stories included in the exhibition. The audience was captivated by the diverse approaches employed by students in the development and storytelling process.
The animations that emerged from this project not only enrich the exhibition panels but also enhance the visitor experience by providing an additional means to grasp the gravity of such stories and historical facts. The exhibition, along with the accompanying animations, can now be viewed by the public at Barracks 1B, which is located 500 meters away from the main building of the Camp Vught memorial.
The Persecution Through Their Eyes project will continue to empower and inspire young people with upcoming youth events organised by the other project partners in Germany, Italy and Poland.
