Hear a Holocaust survivor’s emotional memories captured in virtual reality

Holocaust survivor Manfred Goldberg tests out new technology designed to help keep his memories alive (Picture: Holocaust Educational Trust/PA)

Manfred Goldberg was only a boy when he was sent to Stutthof concentration camp, perched on the freezing north coast of Poland.

Now 94, he survived the brutal Nazi regime, but his brother was not so fortunate.

‘It came as a stunning surprise,’ he said. ‘He was one of four youngsters who were permitted to stay in the camp while everyone else had to go out to work. 

‘We would leave the children behind and meet again every evening – I had to go out to work daily.

‘After a few weeks of this, we came home one evening after work and the children had disappeared – and to this day, we have not found any trace.

‘We had to conclude, heartbreakingly, that my brother was almost certainly murdered the day he was taken from us.’

Manfred was just 13 at the time. His brother was nine.

Yet despite the shocking details of his story, Holocaust denial is on the rise today, including in young adults.

To help combat the spread of misinformation and disinformation online, and to keep the memories of those who suffered in the camps alive, the Holocaust Educational Trust has turned to 21st Century technology.

Combining artificial intelligence (AI) and virtual reality (VR), the charity has created a program, Testimony 360, that allows school children to speak with survivors, even after they are no longer alive.

The technology aims to ‘immortalise’ real Holocaust survivors and their stories through life-like conversations with pupils.

Currently, Holocaust survivors share their experiences with thousands of pupils every year, but it is becoming increasingly difficult for survivors who are in their 80s and 90s to travel across the country to speak to pupils first-hand – meaning soon the Holocaust will no longer be in living memory.

But now, speech-to-text recognition AI search technology, combined with a filming technique using a nine-camera rig, has created virtual 3D versions of Holocaust survivors which can answer over 1,000 questions from pupils.

Mr Goldberg with his virtual self (Picture: Holocaust Educational Trust/PA)

AI understands the question and then plays the survivor’s most relevant recorded answer to give pupils the feeling of a natural conversation.

Using VR headsets, students will also be able to explore key sites linked to the survivor testimonies, including their pre-war hometowns and the concentration camps where they were imprisoned.

It is hoped the technology will ensure that young people have memorable experiences learning about the Holocaust for generations to come.

Karen Pollock, chief executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust, said it is vital that young people learn about the Holocaust as conspiracy theories and misinformation continue to be spread on social media.

School students are able to ask the virtual Manfred hundreds of questions (Picture: Holocaust Educational Trust/PA)

‘I think the challenge we’ve got with Holocaust education sadly is that there are people who deny the Holocaust, who distort the Holocaust, who use the Holocaust to make other points that they want to make, abuse the memory of the Holocaust,’ she said.

‘So this is also about holding it up and saying this is the experience of a real person and you can hear about it and see the site that they are talking about.’

Mr Goldberg, from North London, has shared his testimony with young people in hundreds of schools over 20 years. He said pupils have told him in the past that hearing his story was ‘an experience of a lifetime’ and it changed their lives.

‘That is a very powerful reaction and that is what keeps me going at my age to continue doing what I’m doing,’ he said. ‘I think one basic and highly important factor is the one we seem to have cracked now and that is that all these people for decades to come will be able to hear the words of a Holocaust survivor.

‘There has been a tendency for second generation, sons or daughters of the survivors, to speak when their parents finally have left this world, but I think feedback is that it’s not nearly as powerful, meaningful.’

Using VR headsets, students can also walk see the camps for themselves (Picture: Holocaust Educational Trust)

Mr Goldberg spent five days being filmed within a green screen rig, from multiple angles at once using special volumetric capture cameras, and he answered more than 1,000 questions to ensure his virtual self could answer almost any question a student may pose about their experience of the Holocaust.

Testimony 360 was officially launched on Wednesday at Sacred Heart Catholic School in Camberwell, London.

Virtual testimonies from three other Holocaust survivors are set to be rolled out in schools from 2025.

‘Never during those dark days of the Holocaust did I ever imagine that one day I would see myself, and my story, immortalised in this way,’ he said.

‘I have spoken to thousands of pupils over the years – perhaps now I will make it millions. If this is my legacy, it will be a truly remarkable one.’