Virtual Janowska

A Digital Reconstruction of a Nazi Concentration Camp

I am currently working on an AHRC Research Develeopment and Engagement Fellowship application to support the creation of a Historical Building Information Model (HBIM) of the Janowska concentration camp in Lviv, Ukraine. My partners and I are currently resubmitting a proposal that got high marks from two out of three reviewers. Unfortunately, it seemed like the the third reviewer (who will be number Reviewer #2 for obvious reasons) did not really understand the project or the potential value of digital humanities in looking at this subject. Regardless, I was able to take all the feedback from reviewers and hopefully improve the latest iteration of the bid.

Explore a draft visualization of the model!

This is an ARC GIS visualization of the camp made with the Scholars Lab at UVA.

A 1944 Luftwaffe aerial photo of the camp was overlayed on the actual ground and I plotted the building polygons based off historical sources.

You can add/remove layers to see the terrain today and you can change perspective/zoom by using the mouse wheel and right mouse button.

What are the goals of this project?

Produce a comprehensive Historical Building Information Model of a Nazi concentration camp.
Develop critical digital humanities methodology, praxis, and theory integrating quantitative and qualitative analog sources with digital analysis by creating a rigorous 3D model based on a variety of historical documents.
Engage the broader public (both worldwide and the local Ukrainian population) by using the model to present the history of the site on a web-based platform.
Explore the ethical and theoretical questions raised during the process of creating the model while also analysing the utility of an HBIM as a tool for the heritage sector in bringing inaccessible or distant sites to a larger audience.