Opening of new virtual Holocaust museum delayed due to far-right threat
A new virtual Holocaust museum within the online game server Fortnite has been pushed back due to threats from online trolls.
The online video game Fortnite has over 400 million users. Video game designer Luc Bernard decided to utilise the scale of this online platform to create a Holocaust museum within the online world. He told Artnet News that “[he is] about making Holocaust education available to everyone, worldwide, free of cost”, and observed that one reason why most Americans have not visited the Holocaust Museum in Washington DC is due to the fact that it is not easily reachable for them.
Mr Bernard’s self-funded virtual museum, named The Voices of the Forgotten, contains multiple exhibits, including the experience of Jews from multiple European countries such as Tunisia and Greece, life in the ghettos, Kristallnacht and a ‘Hall of Historical Figures’, which features many non-Jews who helped Jews to survive Nazi persecution.
Whilst Mr Bernard stated that the response to the museum “has been 99.99 percent positive”, online trolls have sought to disrupt the opening of the museum.
Nick Fuentes, a far-right leader and media personality, called upon his followers on Telegram to rally against the museum.
Mr Bernard has received a considerable volume of antisemitic messaging, including a photoshopped image of him on a train bound for Auschwitz. As a result, Mr Bernard has delayed the opening of the museum until the tirade of antisemitic messages dies down.
Although he has taken precautions to ensure that the museum itself is treated with respect by its online visitors, concern remains that neo-Nazis will desecrate it once it opens.
Mr Bernard has experience using his programming skills for Holocaust education. He also created the first video game about the Holocaust, called Light into the Darkness.
Luc Bernard is a past guest on Podcast Against Antisemitism, and his interview can be listened to here, or watched here.
Campaign Against Antisemitism reports on news and incidents relating to antisemitism worldwide.
