In partnership with the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre (VHEC), 7th Floor Media, an SFU-based web development team, has designed a website that is educating Canadians about the Holocaust.

"Enemy Aliens": The Internment of Jewish Refugees in Canada, 1940–1943, is an online exhibit that tells the story of an often-unknown part of Canadian history: At the outbreak of World War II, British authorities rounded up hundreds of German and Austrian men they considered security threats, and, with Canadian cooperation, shipped them to isolated detention camps in eastern Canada. Many of these prisoners were Jews escaping Nazi persecution.

Users will find history and many personal stories of the detainees through words, photos, documents, and emotional videos of elderly survivors of the camps, many of whom went on to become prominent Canadians—including winners of the Order of Canada and, in one case, a Nobel Prize.

The website compliments a physical "Enemy Aliens" exhibit that will travel to museums throughout Canada.

"What excited us about the project was the opportunity to use the power of an interactive website to bring the educational potential of this important Canadian story to users beyond the confines of the exhibit space,” said Noni Mate, who directs 7th Floor Media.

“Among other things, the website is a dramatic testimony to the endurance, courage, and resilience of men who overcame injustice to ultimately contribute to the country that had held them prisoner.”

The educational site, hosted by the Virtual Museum of Canada (VMC), launched in December 2012. It is the third site that 7th Floor Media has developed with the VHEC. 7th Floor Media has also designed touchscreen interactivities for VHEC exhibits.

More screenshots of the Enemy Aliens website are available on Flickr.