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 the local population in Lower Austria, still possess a great deal of information, memories and records that document the living and working conditions of their ancestors who were forced to work. Supported by digital research tools and online archives, these descendants have also become active citizen scientists conducting their own research.

This project aims to develop a citizen science digital platform in order to secure sources and memories for research, on the one hand, and to support the research of the descendants and local communities, on the other hand and to promote communication and exchange between these groups and the 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 making materials accessible, 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 contradictory) memory narratives.

https://connectingmemories.at/