Virtual Museums: ITF Publication

The work of the ITF's Memorials and Museums Working Group (MMWG) is focused on forms of cultural remembrance that seek to anchor the Holocaust in the collective memory of contemporary and future societies. In addition to placing emphasis on first-hand accounts and historic sites, the ITF has supported and focused on the development of online "virtual museums".  This document introduces the benefits of virtual museums and presents four examples of such museums: 1) Virtual Museum of Canada, and the Virtual Exhibition created by the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre; 2) Virtual Museum at the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, Netherlands; 3) Virtual Exhibition about the History and Culture of the Finnish Jewry; 4) Virtual Shtetl of the Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw. It is hoped that these projects will broaden access to the subject matter around the world and provide an enhanced online infrastructure for teachers, students and the general public.