Digital Remembrance Game “Remember. The Children of Bullenhuser Damm” is released.

“What does history have to do with me?” It’s something many young people ask themselves. Answers to this question are now innovatively answered through an unusual medium: The Digital Remembrance Game, “Remember: The Children of Bullenhuser Damm” was developed by the Foundation of Hamburg Memorials and Learning Centers and Paintbucket Games with support from The Children of Bullenhuser Damm association and sponsorship from the Alfred Landecker Foundation.

The game puts the players in the perspective of students of the Bullenhuser Damm School in 1979. Together, they discover traces of the Nazi past and reflect on memory and history. Players experience an individualized remembrance narrative through interactions with different characters and the integration of different time periods, giving them a personalized perspective. “Remembrance” isn’t depicted as a linear process, rather as fragmented, non-linear, sometimes contradictory, and above all: subjective. These representations are shown through differing perspectives and memories.

Every one of the five playable characters in the game don’t just represent different memories, but also different themes that connect back to the history of the Children of Bullenhuser Damm. These various themes are diverse so that players at different grade levels can discover different topics and conversation starters for themselves.

The game is free to download for Android and iOS devices. Accompanying teaching material will be available by the end of 2024. An English version is planned for the beginning of 2025. A bookable workshop with the game is available at the Bullenhuser Damm Memorial for groups starting in January 2025. You can find current information and updates about the game here.

Oliver von Wrochem, Chairman of the Foundation of Hamburg Memorials and Learning Centers: “With a game, we want to create an independent contribution to remembrance culture through images, narrative style, and above all, the interactivity of the medium, which surprises young people and appeals to them more directly than conventional educational formats. A digital game is an important step towards conveying knowledge about the National Socialist era and how society has dealt with it up to the present day in a contemporary form.”

Daniel Zylberberg, member of the advisory board for the game and chairman The Children of Bullenhuser Damm association: “As a relative of one of the murdered Jewish children from Bullenhuser Damm, I think it is important that remembrance does not remain in the past, but establishes a connection to the present. This game has succeeded in presenting different intercultural perspectives and many questions reflect the current discussion about anti-Semitism and racism in society.”

Trailer: "Erinnern. Die Kinder vom Bullenhuser Damm" (German)

Video about the gaming experience: Schüler*innen der IGS Flötenteich bei Oldenburg (German)