Lillian & Larry Goodman Foundations Holography Theater

Meet Our Virtual Survivors

Imagine sitting in a theater listening to Auschwitz survivor Fritzie Fritzshall as she recounts her harrowing story of the Holocaust, in which she, as a 13-year-old, was ripped from her home and transported to the notorious concentration camp where most of her family was murdered. Imagine asking her questions about life during the Holocaust, about those Upstanders who risked their lives to save her, about her messages for our world today.

After watching a short intro film, you too will be able to ask questions to the holograms of Fritzie Fritzshall, Aaron Elster, and other Survivors in this award-winning innovative exhibition.

High-definition holographic interview recordings paired with voice recognition technology enables Survivors to tell their deeply moving personal stories and respond to questions from the audience, inviting visitors to have a personalized, one-on-one ‘conversation.’

Debuting at Experience360 are three new holograms: Rodi Glass, Marion Deichmann, and Kizito Kalima, Tutsi Survivor of the 1994 Rwandan genocide. He is the first featured survivor who was not in the Holocaust.

Now Playing: Week of 12/15 to 12/21

In 1929, Fritzie was born Fritzie Weiss in Klucharky, Czechoslovakia. She lived with her mother and two brothers, as her father had immigrated to the United States in order to provide a better life for his family. In 1944, the Germans invaded Fritzie’s hometown and she and her family were forced into a ghetto. Shortly after, she and her family were deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau killing center, where her mother and two brothers were murdered. She was only fourteen years old. Close to the end of the war, Fritzie was moved to a sub-camp of Auschwitz, where she worked as a slave laborer in a factory. In 1945, she was finally liberated by Soviet forces while on a death march to Germany. In 1946, after the war, Fritzie came to the United States and was reunited with her father. She eventually settled in Chicago, became a hairdresser, and married a World War II veteran and Japanese POW survivor, Norman Fritzshall. 

What will you ask Fritzie? Visit her Hologram in person to witness her story.

Learn More About Survivors:

_{Lillian & Larry Goodman Foundations Holographic Theater features Dimensions in Testimony, developed by USC Shoah Foundation in association with Illinois Holocaust Museum.}