Press invitation to the presentation of the ‘IWalk’ learning app

Since the terrorist attack by Hamas on 7 October 2023 and the ensuing war in the Middle East there has been a massive increase in antisemitic incidents and violence in Europe. The challenges for Austrian teachers in addressing this issue were already considerable before the attacks and will continue to accompany schools in the new school year.

Learning about the history of the Holocaust and the diversity of Jewish life before and after the Shoah are important components in addressing antisemitism. The use of new media and knowing how to use them are essential in this context.

In an international collaboration with the US-based USC Shoah Foundation the OeAD has created an innovative and novel learning opportunity with its ERINNERN:AT programme: digital tours of Austria for the IWalk app.
The learning programme combines stories of survivors and witnesses of national socialism and the holocaust from the Shoah Foundation's Visual History Archive with maps and historical photographs, inviting users to explore local history on virtual and real tours. The latest tour is dedicated to the diversity of Jewish life in Vienna's 2nd district before 1938.

On Thursday, 22 August, this special learning programme will be presented to the education minister Martin Polaschek and selected members of the press. Attending experts will include Andrea Szönyi, the European Representative of the USC Shoah Foundation, and the two historians and authors of IWalk, Victoria Kumar (OeAD ERINNERN:AT) and Marlene Wöckinger (Mauthausen Memorial).

Date: Thursday, 22 August 2024

Time: 3:30 p.m. to approx. 4:30 p.m.

Meeting point: Tempelgasse 3, 1020 Vienna (Leopoldstadt Temple)

 
Schedule:

-        Welcome and introduction:
Martin Polaschek, federal minister for education, science and research, and
Jakob Calice, OeAD managing director

-        Presentation of the international IWalk app:
Andrea Szönyi, European representative of the USC Shoah Foundation (Visual History Archive)

-        Presentation and tour of the IWalk ‘Jewish Life in Vienna's 2nd District before the Shoah’ (3 stations):
Victoria Kumar and Marlene Wöckinger (OeAD ERINNERN:AT)

-        Closing remarks: BM Polaschek and Jakob Calice

You can download the IWalk app free of charge at the following links:

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.illion.usc&hl=de_AT

Apple: https://apps.apple.com/at/app/iwalk-usc-shoah-foundation/id1176057571

Please register: presse@oead.at