My Holocaust memorial year abroad at the Jewish Holocaust Centre

As a young Austrian, one has to choose between two types of conscription: Armed Forces or Civil Service. Few know about the third possibility of doing Memorial Service abroad. For me, however, it was immediately clear that this would be my choice. After doing some research, I chose the Jewish Holocaust Centre (JHC) as it is one of the last Holocaust memorial institutions where one can still actively work with survivors of the Holocaust, and I am part of the last generation who can sit with survivors and listen to their stories. Despite the enormous amount of preparation involved and the demanding project in which I was involved, I would never have wanted to miss the experience I have had.

When I rst arrived, I was introduced to JHC employees, volunteers and survivors, and attended school programs during which survivors spoke to students. My rst projects were working with the audio/video producer and curatorial department to create online portfolios on the video platform Vimeo, to be used for marketing. I also help install a new video camera system in the JHC large auditorium to simplify the process of lming events.

In the archives department I learnt about the cataloguing and archiving of documents and artworks. I also translated documents from German to English, ranging from a 40-page account written by a Holocaust survivor to the documents in the Marcuse collection. Ernest Marcuse was a Berlin artist of Jewish descent who immigrated to Australia shortly before the war, and the collection includes numerous technical drawings, many of which are amazingly futuristic.

As I have training as an event technician, I participated in the planning and staging of events. My role involved photographing and lming events, as well as ensuring that the sound and set-up of the facility were appropriate.

I took part in the Hide and Seek education program by helping students with the correct pronunciation of German names and addresses, as well as ensuring that the program ran to schedule. I was also involved in the digitising of comments left by students on a noticeboard at the end of their visit, so that this valuable feedback can reach a wider audience.

By far the most demanding and time-consuming project in which I was involved was the compilation of an inventory of the entire JHC, in preparation for the Centre’s redevelopment. My task was to count, label and list every single item in every room so that items can be packed and moved. I was also entrusted with administrative tasks, including answering telephones, shopping for supplies and doing simple repair work.

It was a great honour to represent the Austrian Ambassador at a prestigious event, but the most important and memorable part of my time at the JHC was my daily interaction with Holocaust survivors, and the lifelong memories I will have as a result.

Now that my 10-month placement is over, I have absolutely no regret about my decision to complete my Memorial Service at the JHC, and I am sure that the experiences I have had and skills I have learned will be of great help in my future working life. I thank my colleagues, and the volunteers and survivors for their help and support.