Žanis Lipke was a dockworker from Rīga, Latvia. When the German Wehrmacht invaded Latvia in 1941, unleashing the Holocaust on Žanis’ home, this humble man helped 55 Jews escape from the Rīga Ghetto and the Kaiserwald Concentration Camp. He created a series of bunkers where he kept these people hidden and safe until the end of the Holocaust.

The story of Žanis is a mosaic of the 55 people he rescued. Each person’s experience was different, and each rescue was its own uniquely harrowing endeavor. These stories are inherently non-linear, with intertwining timelines, overlapping characters, and different points of view.

Virtual Reality as a medium is also inherently non-linear, lending itself seamlessly to an immersive, choose-your-own-adventure narrative format.

We learn the story of Lipke through the individual stories of the people he rescued. Each story is told through a first-person narrative, using original written and oral testimonies.

If you are from an museum or an educational institution and would like to preview Žanis: Through Our Eyes. in VR, reach out to us at: