War Survivors and Their Digital Networks: The 'Weihsien Paintings' Website and Collective Memories of the Weihsien Internment Camp.

This study explores how war survivors use digital platforms to construct and preserve collective historical memory, focusing on the 'Weihsien Paintings' website as a case study. Established by Japanese forces in China during the Second World War, the Weihsien internment camp mainly detained British and American civilians. Since the early 2000s former internees and their descendants have shared personal recollections through the Weihsien chat group and the 'Weihsien Paintings' website, transforming digital media into a key medium for intergenerational memory transmission and historical inquiry. Traditional approaches to war survivor memory--diaries, memoirs, oral histories and print media--have shaped the historiography for decades. Yet the rise of digital technologies has redefined historical preservation, allowing survivors to actively construct their own narratives through online forums, digital archives and interactive platforms. More than a repository of historical documents, photographs, paintings and audio recordings, the 'Weihsien Paintings' website functions as a communal space where survivors, scholars and descendants engage in collective remembrance. By analysing discussions within the Weihsien chat group, this study examines how digital memory construction transforms personal recollections into publicly accessible historical narratives. Digital archives, in this context, are not static depositories but dynamic interactions that represent how war history is understood and commemorated. As war survivors age, the long-term preservation of their history depends on sustainable archival strategies. The digital archiving function of the 'Weihsien Paintings' website ensures the preservation of their history. However, issues such as the reliability of digital platforms, the definition of historical authority and the selective retention of memory remain topics worthy of further exploration. Through an in-depth analysis of the 'Weihsien Paintings' website, this paper offers new perspectives on the circulation and interpretation of historical memory in the digital age, contributing to broader discussions on war history and collective memory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]