Flight and Rescue tells the story of over two thousand Jewish refugees who, through the intervention of Dutch and Japanese diplomats, were able to obtain visas allowing them to escape occupied Lithuania and travel to Japan and China to remain for the duration of WWII.
Built in 2006, the website supports and preserves the exhibit created by the US Holocaust Memorial Museum. This online, archival version presents the content by telling the story in a Flash movie presentation, as well as allowing the user to search and study over 200 objects and photographs from the exhibit.
The site features a multimedia story titled “Journey of Survival” that is similar to a documentary film. Interactive Knowledge worked with the museum to choose the images, write the narration, and place the music. Images in the story include photos, maps and artifacts. The movie contains visual “alerts” that encourage the viewer to explore objects relevant to that topic. The user can pause the movie and explore the artifacts, watch video of eye-witness accounts and consider important “decision points” that the refugees faced during their escape. At any point the user can continue watching the movie.
Hundreds of artifacts and videos are available in an easy-to-search database. Users can search by keyword or choose from a list of categories. Each of the artifacts can be viewed in detail through a “zoomify” tool.
Current information about other refugees in the modern world and details about the crisis in Darfur and its relevance in relation to understanding the Holocaust.
