Researching - Preserving – Sharing. Establishing a Digital Community of Transnational Memory and Records on Nazi Forced Labour in Lower Austria

Between 1939 and 1945, foreign civilian forced labourers and prisoners of war were forced to work in almost every town and village in the “Ostmark”. As in other federal states, the history of forced labour in Lower Austria has not yet been sufficiently researched and documented. As forced labour is an intersection of transnational memories, the descendants of former forced labourers, but also of the local population in Lower Austria, still possess a great deal of information, memories and records that document the living and working conditions of forced labourers during the Nazi era. Supported by digital research tools and information available in online archives, these descendants have also become active citizen scientists conducting their own research. In order to increase public awareness and promote research on the history of forced labour in Lower Austria this project aims to develop a digital citizen science platform to preserve sources and memories, to support the research by descendants and local communities and to promote communication and exchange between these groups and participating researchers. In collaboration with the descendant groups concerned, the project will create digital opportunities for communication and exchange of knowledge and records. Different levels of access to material, new research tools and communication formats will be tested to study factors which motivate citizen scientists to contribute to the platform. Face-to-face meetings will also promote dialogue and communication between transnational groups with different (even conflicting) memory narratives.