Volucap’s Mobile Volumetric Stage Used to Record Holocaust Survivors in Poland

Potsdam, 17.09.2025 — Volucap has completed a significant milestone in digital memory preservation: the volumetric recording of Holocaust survivors in Poland using its mobile volumetric capture stage.

In collaboration with Film University Babelsberg Konrad Wolf, and under the direction of Christian Zipfel, Volucap had the extraordinary honor of filming the testimonies of Zdzisława Włodarczyk and Bronisława (Niusia) Horowitz-Karakulska — two women whose life stories reflect both the horrors of the Holocaust and the resilience of the human spirit.

Horowitz-Karakulska’s story is widely known, as it directly inspired scenes in Schindler’s List, Steven Spielberg’s acclaimed film. She survived the Kraków ghetto, the Plaszow concentration camp, Auschwitz, and Brünnlitz — the factory camp run by Oskar Schindler, whose actions ultimately saved her life. After the war, she returned to Kraków, became a beautician, and started a family. For nearly 50 years, she remained silent about her wartime experiences, until she was invited to consult on Schindler’s List in the early 1990s. Since then, she has become an active voice in Holocaust remembrance.

Zdzisława Włodarczyk was just 11 years old when she was deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau in August 1944, during the Warsaw Uprising. Alongside her parents and younger brother, she endured the horrors of the camp, was separated from her family, and assigned prisoner number 85282. She witnessed the arrival of daily transports to the gas chambers and lived in constant fear. After liberation in January 1945, she and her brother were taken in by their grandmother. Her father died in the Hersbruck subcamp, while her mother returned from Ravensbrück in severely weakened condition. Włodarczyk later rebuilt her life in Chrzanów and now speaks publicly about the dangers of political extremism and the lasting trauma of war.

For the first time, these stories have been captured in volumetric 3D — not only preserving the survivors’ words, but their presence. Viewers can now experience these testimonies in Extended Reality (XR), encountering the speakers with an immediacy and humanity that traditional formats cannot offer. The result is a powerful, immersive form of remembrance that bridges history and technology.

Volucap GO – The Mobile Volumetric Capture Studio

This groundbreaking documentation was made possible by Volucap GO, Volucap’s mobile volumetric capture stage, specifically developed for high-fidelity 3D capture outside of traditional studio settings. Designed for maximum flexibility, Volucap GO delivers over 2,500 megapixels, and is built on a lightweight carbon frame. It enables real-time data streaming to the video village for instant playback, giving directors and VFX teams immediate visual feedback — whether filming on a sound stage or in historically significant locations, such as this project in Poland.

ZEITZEUGNIS – A Non-Profit Organization for Living Memory

As part of its long-term commitment to preserving memory, Volucap is in the process of founding the non-profit platform Zeitzeugnis.org, which will support further recordings of Holocaust survivors and other eyewitnesses to history.

The goal is clear: to ensure these voices are not lost, but carried forward — authentically, powerfully, and accessibly — for generations to come.

About Volucap

Volucap is an industry-leading company revolutionizing the field of virtual reality technology. Located at the FX Center in Studio Babelsberg, the Volucap Studio houses an impressive 1830 square feet light rotunda equipped with over 40 cameras, capturing every movement and facial expression from a 360° perspective. Its cutting-edge technology, powered by intelligent software algorithms, creates realistic 3D scans of people and objects. The end products can be deployed across various platforms, from AR and VR to 2D video/web applications.

With a portfolio boasting collaborations with high-end feature film productions like “Mickey 17“, “Matrix Resurrections” and artists such as “Die Fantastischen Vier“, “The BossHoss” and “Paul Kalkbrenner“, Volucap continues to push the boundaries of digital content creation.