memorial centre
Westerbork
Thesis project
In 2020 I graduated on a thesis about Modern Ethical Holocaust Education in Museums. This was a thesis commissioned by Memorial Centre Westerbork. The thesis was the base of an interactive tool. Memorial Centre Westerbork had asked me to develop a serious game for a new exhibition. The goal was to actively involve a younger generation of visitors with this serious game. Since Holocaust history is a sensitive subject in the Netherlands and Memorial Centre Westerbork would be the first in the country to create a serious game for an exhibition, this had to be well researched. As the thesis research formed the base, a serious game started to derive.
The exhibition was about the lawsuit of Westerbork's Camp Commander, Albert Konrad Gemmeker, in the second world war. The commander had been responsible for the deportation of 80.000 Jews and was indirectly responsible for the death of thousands of people.
In 1948 he got the sentence of 10 years in Jail.
To this day it's still a discussion why he got 10 years. Most people say he should have gotten a bigger punishment. The serious game helps the people understand why the judge chose 10 years and that it wasn't an easy choice. In de serious game the user isn't playing, but actively learning about the case.
In de serious game you'll find yourself in the brain of the Judge of Gemmeker. This brain is designed as a maze. In this maze you'll find dilemma's the judge had to answer to find the right sentence. It is your task to find the most moral way through the maze by answering the dilemma's. These dilemma's are hard, which will make you see that the choice wasn't an easy one.
Since the Holocaust is an sensitive theme the concept and design of the game to reckon with a simple visualisation where learning came first instead of entertainment.
In de images below you will find some screenshots of the interactive prototype that was created. The game will be seen on an interactive table in the exhibition.
This design is an interactive prototype.
Research showed that for the game to be ethically correct, it had to have a discrete design with neutral, joyless colors.