January 27th brings International Holocaust Remembrance Day, and with that the opening of a new virtual reality experience, The Journey Back, at Illinois Holocaust Museum in suburban Skokie.

In the two VR films, participants stand alongside Auschwitz-Birkenau survivors Fritzie Fritzshall and George Brent, as they emotionally recall what happened to them during the Nazi regime. It’s a powerfully emotional endeavor, taking in The Journey Back, as it’s an opportunity to utilize the latest virtual technology to simulate both present day and historic Auschwitz.

The Remembrance Day date was chosen to honor the day that Auschwitz was liberated, Jan 27, 1945.   One of the two films, A Promise Kept, tells the life story of Fritzshall as she fulfills her promise to the 599 women who saved her life while imprisoned together. Unfortunately, Fritzie, who served as the Museum President, passed away this past June and didn’t have the opportunity to see the exhibition open up.

Fritzie also appears in the museum’s interactive Hologram Theatre, where visitors can ask her questions about her experience. That’s another part of the museum that should not be missed. In both the theatre and the VR film Fritzie recalls being separated from her mother, at age 13, and asking the camp guard when she would see her again.

The Nazi guard pointed at the smoke emanating from the concentration camp’s crematorium. Moments like that remind us why we can never forget this atrocity of atrocities, and why we must make sure genocides like this never happen again.

“In both Fritzie and George’s films, there is an essential understanding that these stories need to be carried on,” said Susan Abrams, CEO of Illinois Holocaust Museum.

“We need to learn all we can from Holocaust Survivors while they are still here. The knowledge we gain from their pasts influences our futures and informs the way we interact with the world. And there is truly no better way to learn than to virtually tour the Holocaust sites today with a Survivor to see them from their point of view.”

Don’t Forget Me takes viewers back to Auschwitz, Mauthausen, and Ebensee concentration camps, revealing George Brent’s will to survive in the face of Nazi tyranny. Brent recalls working in a quarry, where malnourished Jews did back-breaking work that was so horrifying, many chose to leap off the cliff to their death instead. 

The VR situated right underneath train tracks, and a rail car of the same type that would have taken Jews to death camps like Auschwitz.

“So physically, there is a Certain presence here,” said Arielle Weininger, the Museum’s Chief Curator of Collections and Exhibitions.

“But it is something that I think you can come with your friends or family, spend approximately 12 minutes watching the film, and then have a chance to digest what we discussed, and even work through other aspects of the museum.”

The boxcar, a Ruhr Chemicals freight train G 10, was donated anonymously to the museum from Germany. It is not known for certain whether or not this rail car was utilized for death camp transport, but visitors are allowed to enter it, if you so wish. The VR simulates this horrifying experience as well.

We also did another story on this exhibit/the museum, at our site The Sports Bank.

In addition, be sure to check out the first story we did on the Illinois Holocaust Museum, focusing on a previous special exhibition, over at this link. Rail car photos credited to Scott Edwards.

Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Bank (TheSportsBank.Net) and author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” as well as “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”

He has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune, and co-hosts the After Extra Time podcast. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.