Armed guards shout orders in German. A shepherd dog is kept on a tight leash. Bright lights shine on an old locomotive, puffing and blowing out a last breath of steam. Then the carriage doors squeak open and exhausted prisoners step out onto the platform.
“Stop! Back to square one”, shouts production manager Rico Sohilait of MotionSupply through a megaphone. All actors and extras return to their starting positions. Because we are on a film set, even though the oppressive atmosphere is reminiscent of how soldier Vladimir Botenko must have felt during the war.
In our museum, which will open its doors next spring, visitors will step into the shoes of this soldier. In a VR experience, you will follow his path and experience what it feels like to be packed like sardines in a can on a train to a prisoner of war camp in Germany for days on end with other soldiers.
Meanwhile, the next scene is underway on the platform. Soviet prisoners of war are being roughly thrown onto the platform by German guards. They are being herded along at a trot to be taken away in trucks to a camp. Director Erris van Ginkel of Moodfactory nods in satisfaction.
Beastly weather wasn’t exactly on the director’s wish list, but now that the rain is pouring down, the spectacle takes on an extra gruesome edge. The Nazis regarded Soviet prisoners of war as animals and treated them as such.
More than three million of the approximately five million Soviet prisoners of war died in German camps because of the miserable conditions. Vladimir Botenko was one of them, although he lived to see the liberation by the American army. A few weeks later he died exhausted in a military hospital.
What he went through? You can experience it next spring in our new museum. Follow our newsletter to stay informed: https://se-bu.enduredesign-testdomein.nl/schrijf-je-in-en-volg-de-bouw-van-het-museum/.
With thanks to Museum station Beekbergen.
Photos Suzanne Flipse/Soviet War Cemetery Foundation
