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Breaking Boundaries and Transforming History with Wix: Digital Edge’s Groundbreaking Work on Holocaust Testimony UK Website


The Digital edge team with Dr. Bea Lewkowicz and Susanna Kleeman from the HTUK team


When Creativity Meets Purpose….

As we step into 2025, we’ve taken some time to reflect on the incredible journey we’ve had over the past year.


When we asked the Digital Edge team about their biggest wins of 2024, there were many personal gains, however, one project stood out unanimously—our work on a website commissioned by the British Government.


It wasn’t just a highlight for us; it was a milestone in digital innovation that proved what’s possible when creativity meets purpose, powered by the capabilities of Wix

 

What is Holocaust Testimony UK?

Holocaust Testimony UK is the initiative of Lord Pickles, the UK Special Envoy for Post-Holocaust Issues, and the Association of Jewish Refugees (AJR), the national charity representing and supporting Holocaust refugees and survivors and their families.


Michael Newman, Chief Executive of the AJR, highlighted the project’s ambition and its significance in preserving history when he said,


“For the first time, the portal will bring together testimonies from  Holocaust survivors and refugees, in a consolidated resource that will enable visitors to access critical life stories about the darkest chapter in Jewish and world history.”

 

A mockup of the HTUK Website on a mac screen.

A Portal of Innovation and Legacy

The Holocaust Testimony UK website is a platform that preserves and shares powerful testimonials from survivors of atrocities across the globe. Unlike traditional archives, these testimonials capture stories not just at a single point in time but over years, revisiting survivors to show how memories, perspectives, and coping mechanisms evolve.


This approach offers a unique and deeply personal insight into history, making it an invaluable resource for educators, historians, and anyone with an interest in understanding the impact of these atrocities.


For the first time, the portal brings together testimonies from Holocaust survivors and refugees in one central resource. It was created as a vital tool to combat Holocaust denial and distortion, as well as rising antisemitism, by showcasing these voices and preserving their stories.


Beyond educational purposes, it ensures that the memory, culture, and traditions of those affected are honoured and remembered.

 

Overcoming the Impossible

When the HTUK first approached us, their requirements were clear—but even they doubted it could be achieved until we proved otherwise.


Using Wix’s powerful tools and scalable platform, we were able to bring together multiple archives and collections from 22 world-leading partners. Each partner needed to approve content during the build and again before launch.


Wix’s flexibility ensured we could adapt and deliver on these complex requirements, making this website a truly collaborative achievement.


Due to the website being so innovative and potentially life-changing, Ian and Graham were invited to Lancaster House in London to meet partners and government officials connected with the project.


Standing among those driving this vital initiative forward and to see firsthand how much this project means to so many people made Ian, Graham and the whole Digital Edge team incredibly proud and humbled.

 

Ian and Graham stood with two members of the HTUK Team

A Technical Triumph

The site includes advanced features such as:



  • A search function that allows users to locate specific parts of interviews using time-stamped transcripts.


  • The ability to cross-reference interviewees by name and archive, providing a deeper understanding of each story.


  • The sharing of documents related to interviewees’ life stories, adding further context to the testimonials.

    https://www.holocausttestimony.org.uk/interviews


The platform doesn’t just present these stories; it equips users with the ability to navigate them with ease.


It offers scalability that ensures it will continue to grow and evolve. This was only achievable through the robust and versatile Wix platform, which allowed us to turn this ambitious vision into reality.



Why Wix Was the Key to Success

Wix makes online digital easy....

Utilising Velo and the latest Studio Velo features, allowed us to integrate complex functions such as the time-stamped searchable transcripts, interactive maps, and scalable data storage.


Wix's advanced developer tools provided the flexibility to create custom functionalities while the Wix Studio CMS allows for ease of use necessary for ongoing updates and growth. Its robust infrastructure ensures the site can handle large amounts of multimedia content while delivering a smooth and intuitive user experience.


This combination of power, scalability, and innovation made Wix the ideal platform to bring Holocaust Testimony UK’s ambitious vision to life.


A Future-Proof Legacy

The aim of this portal is to make all recorded UK Holocaust testimonies more accessible. With almost 300 testimonies captured in the last 20 years for the AJR Refugee Voices Testimony Archive, the goal was to map these memories on a broader, cross-institutional scale.


It serves as a resource not just for researchers and educators but also for family members of survivors, helping to fulfil the wish expressed by many interviewees—to use their stories to educate and ensure history does not repeat itself.


The portal will ensure that their stories will be heard in the present and in the future. As Dr. Bea Lewkowicz, Project Lead for Holocaust Testimony UK, explained,


"In the fight against Holocaust distortion and denial, the portal can play a vital role in helping us to learn as much as we can about the lives of all the survivors and refugees from Nazism, who had the courage to share their story."


This project reinforced what we’ve always believed—websites are more than just online spaces. They can inform, inspire, and even transform the way people learn and connect. It’s been an absolute privilege to play a part in preserving these voices for future generations.


We’re incredibly proud of this achievement and excited to carry this momentum into 2025.

Susanna Kleeman, Head of Digital, Holocaust Testimony UK, summed up the significance of the partnership when she said,


“Digital Edge are one of Britain's leading Wix-based agencies. Their award-winning sites and services are a testament to their commitment to teamwork and excellence, and their passion for what they do."


“This people-centric approach has made them the natural partners for this project, requiring, as it has done, great sensitivity to the material and endless patience with huge amounts of different sorts of data.”


If you’d like to explore the Holocaust Testimony UK website and see this groundbreaking project firsthand, click here: https://www.holocausttestimony.org.uk/


If you’d like to learn more about what’s possible with Digital Edge, get in touch.


Let’s build something extraordinary together.

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