Replicating Schindler’s “Ring of Hope” to educate a new generation on the Holocaust

Louis Gross, son of factory worker Jozef Gross, holding a model of the Ring of Hope. Image courtesy of Melbourne Holocaust Museum

Immortalized in the Hollywood movie Schindler’s List, the tale of the survivors rescued at Schindler’s Ark, the unique concentration camp where Jews on Schindler’s List were saved, not exterminated, in Czechia, is both harrowing and deeply inspiring.

For Daniel Low-Beer, it’s also a very personal story. Before Nazi Germany invaded at the start of WWII, this factory actually belonged to his family. They’d lived in German Moravia for hundreds of years – it was only when the Nazis arrived at the gates in 1938 that the Low-Beers were forced to flee to Great Britain. This is how Schindler (himself a Nazi) ended up building his concentration camp, which saved lives in parts of the factory.

Once in charge of this seized factory, he hired many Jews, those who ended up on Schindler’s List were evacuated from Krakow. This was cheaper than paying non-Jewish workers, so there was an element of profiteering. But he also saved the lives of 1,200 Jews and is recognized as a Righteous among the Nations by Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center.

Fast-forward to 2019, and the Low-Beers bought back their stolen factory, which they then turned into Schindler’s Ark, a museum commemorating all that happened there. At the grand opening in May 2025, 80 years after the ring was first given to Schindler in the courtyard (shown in the photo below), the giving of the ring was celebrated with music and testimonies – albeit without the ring.

Schindler’s factory, which has now been returned to the Low-Beer family and turned into a museum. Image courtesy of the Arks Foundation

Today, the Museum of Survivors is dedicated to the stories and testimonies of Survivors, a unique place where they describe how 1,200 lives were saved. How did they stand up to a killing system, and just as important… what would visitors do today?

Schoolchildren from seven European countries returned to co-design a museum for the next generation, educating visitors with touching exhibits and survivors’ testimonies. The Keneally family returned to Schindler’s Ark for the first time, including Thomas Keneally, the Booker Prize-winning author of “Schindler’s Ark,” the inspiration behind the film by Steven Spielberg.

With the help of Artec 3D scanning, the Arks Foundation are now adding an incredible new display to this facility: a lifelike replica of the “Ring of Hope.”

Rediscovering the “Ring of Hope”

At the end of WWII, factory worker and jeweler Jozef Gross made a gold ring out of metal from prisoners’ tooth fillings, and gifted it to Schindler as a symbol of gratitude at Schindler’s Ark. Sadly, this important relic was soon lost to the pages of history. However, Jozef ended up emigrating to Australia with the model used to cast the original ring. After his death, his son Louis found the model amongst Jozef’s jewelry-making paraphernalia.

Clearly imbued with huge sentimental value, this ring was donated to the Melbourne Holocaust Museum, where it has since been on permanent display. According to Daniel Low-Beer, there had been stories of a ring, some had questioned whether it even existed. But when he found out that it was real (and Louis initially thought of throwing it away), he knew it had to be preserved.

“There are places of extermination. Survivors often feel guilt. They shouldn’t, I would not be here if my grandfather hadn’t survived,” explains Daniel Low-Beer. “So, our museum is dedicated to survivors, their testimonies, and their stories. With the engraving: ‘Whoever saves a life, saves the world entire,’ this ring represents the moment of survival for Schindler Jews.”

A 3D model of the Ring of Hope – complete with incredibly fine details that make it a truly authentic future exhibit for the Museum of Survivors.

Seeking to create a digital twin of this ring model, which could be replicated for an exhibit at the Museum of Survivors, Melbourne Holocaust Museum turned to QUBIC. The Artec Ambassador quickly identified the ultra-high-resolution Artec Spider II as the ideal solution for the task. In the end, it took just an hour to generate an incredibly realistic, transferable 3D model.

Digitizing a historic heirloom

It was vital to digitize the ring with a non-contact technology. Placing the priceless jewelry piece into a clamp or holder would’ve risked damage. Likewise, it wasn’t permitted to use 3D scanning spray, so this process would require a tool designed to detect tricky-to-capture surfaces.

With a sky-high level of accuracy, resolution, and attention to detail, Spider II was perfect. Artec markets its own turntable, but in this case, the team used a base made by the museum. This allowed the object to be turned slowly and captured from multiple angles. The end result? A fully realized replica, complete with all the fine markings that reflect its historic character.

In order to go from scan to model, Artec Studio was used to process captured data. Powered by AI, this software has everything required to fuse data points, polish, and add texture. In many cases, it even has sufficient tools for reverse engineering and inspection. Melbourne Holocaust Museum’s Alice McInnes witnessed the scan and was left hugely impressed by QUBIC’s work.

“I didn't know a thing about 3D scanning. My colleagues said they’d used Artec before, so I made an inquiry. That’s when QUBIC’s Ben Tam reached out, explained how it worked, and asked a lot of questions about the ring,” explained McInnes. “When he arrived in Melbourne, he did the scan, cleaned up the file, and all in the space of an hour, sent this off to the Czech museum, which will use the model to create a gold reproduction of the ring that was lost.”

The Ring of Hope, inside the Artec Studio 3D scan data capture and processing software.

Immortalizing a symbol of survival

Piecing together the Museum of Survivors hasn’t been easy. The Arks Foundation had to buy back part of the Low-Beer’s factory as part of an ambitious broader plan to open in time for the 80th anniversary of the ring being gifted to Schindler. At times, the project seemed to face insurmountable obstacles, but in the end, Daniel and his team managed to finish on time.

Commemorating the Ring of Hope’s symbolic status, a song called “Sing of the Ring” was played during the opening ceremony – yet the ring itself was not yet present. Soon, the museum will have a replica of its own. This will be used to add a new level of authenticity to an exhibition where students already do lessons based on discussions with Schindler’s Ark writer Thomas Keneally about Schindler’s List.

Hailing the museum’s launch, which included survivors, family members, and Keneally family representatives as “an incredible honour,” Daniel says the ring will now play an important role as a counterpart to the film and testimonies – “a symbol of the moment of survival. That little ray of light against the dark extermination of the Holocaust.”

Today, the Museum of Survivors invites students from Czechia, Hungary, Austria, Germany, Slovakia, Poland, and Switzerland to experience the events in the words of survivors. You can find out more about its exhibitions, the Ring of Hope, and the work of the Arks Foundation here.