Untold Stories of Canada's War Orphans Highlighted in Compelling Online Project
VANCOUVER October 17, 2002
Simon Fraser University's 7th Floor Media has designed and produced Open Hearts - Closed Doors: The War Orphans Project, an educational web site for the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre, chronicling the lives of a group of Jewish orphans who came to Canada from Europe to start new lives after the Holocaust.
The bilingual web site is based on an exhibit created by the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre. It uses artifacts and personal narratives to explore an important event in Canadian history, with resonance for contemporary Canada and its immigration policies. The project will also preserve the historical record long after those who experienced the events are no longer here to personally tell their stories.
7th Floor Media at Simon Fraser University is Canada's leading educational and cultural new media group. The project was designed and produced by 7th Floor Media in partnership with the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre, who developed the content of the site, as part of the Virtual Museum project of the Canadian Heritage Information Network.
The web site's design takes advantage of the power of multimedia by enhancing the personal stories of the orphans while connecting them to the broader themes of war, displacement, the Holocaust, liberation and Canadian immigration policies. Within each of the narratives, audio and video interviews, photographs, artifacts, illustrations and memoirs enrich the stories.
In addition to providing students and teachers with primary documents that they would otherwise not have access to, the project offers teachers supporting resources and lesson plans that are easy to integrate into the classroom.
"7th Floor Media has transformed a vast array of primary documents into a richly textured and easily navigable site, which captures the integrity of the period and personal quality of the narrative," comments Frieda Miller, Education Coordinator of the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre. "From the onset, our working relationship was an ideal one."
"We're really proud of this site," says Noni Maté, Co-Director of 7th Floor Media, "It was an exciting creative challenge, but also a personally rewarding experience to bring these important stories and teaching resources to a larger audience."
Open Hearts - Closed Doors: The War Orphans Project is available online at http://www.virtualmuseum.ca/Exhibitions/orphans/english/.