The War Childhood Museum offers internship opportunities for students worldwide, allowing them to engage with memory work and archives. Carolin Gerdes, a 26-year-old master’s student in Peace and Conflict Studies at Philips Universität Marburg in Germany, is the latest intern to share her experience.
Working with the Museum Collection
For Carolin, the journey to WCM began as part of her academic program, which requires an international internship. A professor who had visited WCM suggested she consider the Sarajevo-based museum.
“He told me about the museum’s work and so I contacted it and they got back to me very quickly,” Carolin recalls. She began her internship in late September 2024. Over three months, she worked closely with the museum’s vast collection of objects from Bosnia and other countries, including Ukraine and Georgia.
“I handled everything from small paper objects to large transistor radios. Each object carried a story,” she explains. Her tasks included writing detailed object descriptions, creating condition reports, and preserving the narratives attached to each object. One particularly moving experience involved working with cassette tapes from a girl who stayed in Sarajevo during the siege.
“Her family would bring her cassettes on the rare days when electricity was available, and she’d spend those hours listening to and recording to cassette tapes a mix of classical music, Yugoslavian rock, and even bands like The Offspring,” Carolin says. “Listening to those same songs on Spotify while working brought her story to life for me.”
Preserving History and Countering Misinformation
For Carolin, initiatives like WCM are critical in preserving history and countering misinformation. “In Germany, as survivors of World War II pass away, museums and memorials become essential for keeping their stories alive,” she explains. “This work is especially important in political contexts, where right-wing or nationalist narratives attempt to distort history. Having tangible objects and firsthand accounts allows us to challenge these distortions effectively.”
During her internship, Carolin worked on objects from Ukraine sent digitally by the War Childhood Museum in Kyiv. “The museum in Kyiv is overwhelmed with new donations amid the ongoing war. Being able to assist with object descriptions felt like a small but meaningful contribution,” she says. “Knowing that my work helped alleviate some of their burden was incredibly rewarding.”
If you are interested in interning at the War Childhood Museum, contact us at internship@warchildhood.org for more information.
