Holocaust Survivor's Story Comes Alive in New VR Experience

Benno Kern survived the Holocaust, but he wasn't sure his family's story would. Now, thanks to groundbreaking mixed-reality technology, the 98-year-old's testimony will live on long after the last survivors are gone.

The Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany unveiled "Benno's Light" this week at the University of Vienna. The project lets users experience Kern's journey through a VR headset or computer, walking through his memories from childhood Vienna to the horrors of Auschwitz and his eventual liberation at Buchenwald.

Born in Vienna in 1927, Kern grew up in a city filled with music and intellectual life, but also scarred by hatred. His family fled through Czechoslovakia, Belgium, and Paris, where they were captured and deported to Auschwitz. He was just 15 years old, the same age as many students who will now experience his story.

"I'll never forget my mother's words: 'You have the opportunity to stay alive. The decision is yours,'" Kern shared. He was the only member of his family to survive.

The experience combines hand-drawn animation with real footage, photographs, and music from the era. French immersive technology firm makemepulse partnered with the Austrian government to create the sensitive, evocative testimony that brings Kern's words to life.

The launch site carries its own weight. After Vienna's medieval synagogue was destroyed and its Jews expelled in 1421, stones from that building were used to construct the University of Vienna. More than 500 years later, that same institution now hosts technology designed to prevent such horrors from being forgotten.

Why This Inspires: Greg Schneider of the Claims Conference explained why the technology matters so much right now. "Benno was the same age as today's students when he was torn from his home by the Nazis," he said. The mixed-reality format lets Kern appear as a 15-year-old again, creating a powerful connection between survivor and student.

As living survivors become fewer each year, projects like this preserve their voices in deeply personal ways. Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker called it "our mandate for the future," noting that Holocaust remembrance must meet current and future generations where they are.

The project will tour museums and film festivals, with educational materials being developed to accompany the experience. Kern's hope is simple but profound: "Let them light your way. And let them remind you what it means to carry compassion, even in the darkest of times."

His family's story, carried alone for 80 years, will now be carried forward by thousands.