News
"Auschwitz - accessible memory". Help to visitors with hearing disabilities
Adapting visits to the Auschwitz Memorial Site to people with hearing disabilities, and removing the barriers associated with organising a visit to the Museum, are the main objectives of the "Auschwitz - accessible memory" project.
The multimedia guide, which consists of maps with a marked tour route and historical commentary in Polish Sign Language, the Sign Language System and International Sign Language, will facilitate the visit to both sections of the former German Nazi concentration and extermination camp: Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II-Birkenau.
'Individual visitors with hearing disabilities will have access to complimentary tablets with sign language guides or a QR code to download them to their mobile device,' said Nataliia Tkachenko of the Educational Projects of the International Centre for Auschwitz and Holocaust Education (ICEAH).
An additional information pack provides details on the Museum's opening hours, the rules for staying at the Memorial, and how to take advantage of the educational offers for the deaf and hard of hearing.
Information for visitors in International Sign Language.
'The essential thing for us is to eliminate barriers for people with hearing disabilities and offer them the opportunity to visit on an equal footing with hearing people. Such groups have already visited the Memorial. We hope their numbers will increase significantly,' said Alicja Wojcik from Educational Projects at the ICEAH.
There is also educational material available online for people with hearing disabilities. A multibook summarising the visit to the Memorial has been translated into Polish Sign Language, Sign Language System and International Sign Language. The 27 podcast episodes 'About Auschwitz' are available with translation into Polish Sign Language and Sign Language System. The series comprises talks on the camp’s history, with expert historians from the Museum Research Centre, and broadcasts on various issues related to the contemporary shape of Auschwitz memory.
'We are witnessing extreme interest in our podcasts. In total, we have already recorded more than 700,000 playbacks in the English and Polish versions. The audio material has been prepared as video recordings with a sign language reader. Thus, discussions regarding details of the camp's history are accessible to a new audience, people with hearing disabilities,' said Agnieszka Juskowiak-Sawicka, Head of E-learning at the ICEAH.
The Museum staff also participated in training sessions on the digital accessibility of the Museum, the accessibility of educational activities with special educational needs, and appropriate behaviour towards people with various disabilities. Several people also took a 30-hour course in the basics of Polish Sign Language.
'I am confident it will raise the Museum team's awareness of the accessibility challenge. We are taking a further step toward opening up to people with different abilities and needs who are also interested in learning and understanding the significant history that transpired at Auschwitz,' said Andrzej Kacorzyk, director of the ICEAH.
Rules of visiting in the International Sign Language
The project "Auschwitz - accessible memory" was financed by the project "Culture without barriers" implemented by the State Fund for the Rehabilitation of Persons with Disabilities under Action 4.3 of the Operational Programme Knowledge Education Development 2014-2020.
