This was the closest I’ve ever gotten to seeing my family alive…
My grandparents are Holocaust survivors. In 1938, my grandfather fled Czechoslovakia during Hitler’s rise to power, leaving behind his parents, sisters, and younger brother. Only he and his younger brother survived. Everyone else was murdered in Auschwitz.
There is only one photo of those who perished. My whole life, I have stared at that black‑and‑white photograph, imagining who these people were: what their smiles looked like, how they laughed, how they might have sounded taking a breath. The curiosity was painful, knowing I would never have answers to those questions. Until recently, using an artificial intelligence tool to animate the picture, I watched them move, breathe, and smile. For a moment, souls were returned to their bodies. For the first time, I saw my family come to life.
As International Holocaust Remembrance Day approaches, we are once again challenged to ensure the world never forgets. Each year, this task becomes harder. There are fewer survivors left to tell their stories. Recorded testimonies, photographs, and artifacts remain as evidence of Nazi persecution, but the emotional resonance of the Holocaust is fading. We are approaching a frightening future where the world may no longer feel for the six million Jews whose lives were stolen, because emotion is what drives memory, and that emotion is growing distant.
Yet my experience with the animated photograph shows that AI technology, when used responsibly, can be a crucial lifeline to holocaust victims’ memory. AI technology adds a new dimension of emotion that cannot be felt from mere photographs, numbers, or statistics. It is not enough anymore for people to see faces frozen in time; they need to see the victims “alive,” as more than just a number, but as real people who once lived a full life.
In New York, the Museum of Jewish Heritage is using artificial intelligence to preserve survivors’ testimonies; visitors can ask questions and hear survivors’ recorded answers as if in a conversation. Survivor Toby Levy, who participated in the project, explained that this technology means future generations will be able to “talk to survivors forever and ever.”
In Berlin, Holocaust survivor Inge Auerbacher is the star of a virtual‑reality experience that allows users to converse with her about her childhood in a concentration camp. Auerbacher noted that with traditional books, you must imagine images in your head, but with this technology, “you see it with your own eyes.” These tools do not rewrite history. They make history feel immediate and personal to young people raised on digital media.
Already, we are seeing the rising weaponization and denial of the Holocaust online. According to a UNESCO briefing, generative AI technologies could fabricate or distort historical records of the Holocaust. The Auschwitz‑Birkenau Memorial Museum has warned against “harmful” AI‑generated images of fake victims circulating on social media. When deepfakes or invented biographies spread unchecked, they not only disrespect the dead; they also risk sowing doubt about real victims.
However, the potential of responsible use far outweighs these risks. When integrated thoughtfully, AI can bridge the gap between knowledge and empathy. Textbooks can convey facts, but they cannot evoke emotion and prompt understanding that resonates with younger, digitally native generations. In a world where social media and online platforms shape how history is encountered, AI-powered memorials offer ways to meet audiences where they are, while preserving integrity and truth.
Holocaust remembrance is not merely a record of atrocities inflicted. It is a testament to lives fully lived, to families torn apart, and to the present-day victory over Hitler, as the Jewish people live on. Hitler intended to eradicate the Jewish people, and along with it, any memory of their existence. But AI offers us redemption — a chance to preserve the liveliness of the victims as real human beings whose stories might otherwise fade.
My own experience animating a single photo showed me the power of AI technology, which, for just a moment, gave me back a piece of my family’s story. If a few seconds of AI‑generated motion can do that, imagine what a trove of interactive survivor testimonies or AI‑crafted memory artifacts can achieve on a global scale. We stand at a crossroads: Just as the living chain of memory is about to break, technology extends a new hand to hold onto.
Next month, as we observe Holocaust Remembrance Day in the age of AI, we should seize the opportunity to educate and empathize using every tool we have. Artificial intelligence is perhaps one of the most powerful ever invented for influencing hearts and minds. Harnessed for good, it can ensure that the stories and faces of the six million murdered, and the millions who survived, continue to live on for generations to come.
Talia Raab is a communications student at Reichman University in Israel, focusing on content for impact and marketing. She is a Holocaust survivor descendant and content creator focused on Jewish identity, combating antisemitism, and Israel–diaspora relations.