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 4/6 to 4/12

Kizito D. Kalima was born in 1979 in Nyanza, Rwanda, to Denis and Cecilia Kalima. He is the youngest of ten children, nine of whom survived the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. His father was an administrator/teacher for local schools and his mother served as a health advisor to the surrounding community. As Tutsis were stereotyped to be taller than Hutus, Kizito’s height (6’9”) was the subject of considerable racist mockery among his Hutu classmates. 

The Genocide against the Tutsi began on April 7, 1994. The Kalimas were separated, and many in the family – including both of Kizito’s parents – were killed. After surviving a massacre (in which he was hacked with a machete and left for dead in a pile of bodies) and several other close calls, Kizito managed to survive the genocide with a few of his relatives by hiding in swampland until being liberated by the Rwandan Patriotic Front in late July 1994. 

What will you ask Kizito? Visit his Hologram in person to witness his story.

Learn More About Survivors:

 _{The Lillian and Larry Goodman Foundations Holography Theater features Dimensions in Testimony (DiT), developed by USC Shoah Foundation and Interactive Interviews,  an initiative by USC Libraries and USC Digital Repository,  developed in collaboration with Illinois Holocaust Museum.}