The Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany announced on Wednesday the launch of “Benno’s Light,” a mixed-reality Holocaust education project that brings the story of 98-year-old survivor Benno Kern to life through virtual reality headsets and desktop access.
The project, developed with support from the Austrian government and created with immersive technology company makemepulse, allows users to walk through Kern’s testimony in an interactive digital experience.
Kern, born in Vienna in 1927, recalls a childhood shaped by the city’s music and intellectual life before Nazi persecution forced his family to flee. The project follows the family’s journey from Vienna to Czechoslovakia, Belgium and Paris, where Kern and his parents were captured by the Nazis and deported to Auschwitz.
“I was the only member of my family to survive the Holocaust,” Kern said. “I ask future generations to hear my words and carry them forward in your hearts.”
Claims Conference President Gideon Taylor said the project is part of an effort to use new technology to preserve survivor testimony.
“Mixed reality is the technology of now and of the future,” Taylor said. “We cannot let stories like Benno’s fade into the darkness.”
The project builds on “Inside Kristallnacht,” a 2024 Claims Conference XR project featuring Holocaust survivor Charlotte Knobloch’s memories of the November 1938 pogrom in Munich.
Austrian Chancellor Christian Stocker said Holocaust remembrance “is not only an obligation to the past” but a responsibility to future generations. Alexander Pröll, state secretary in the Austrian Federal Chancellery, said such projects can bring survivor testimony into new educational and cultural spaces.
The launch at the University of Vienna carries historical significance. After Vienna’s medieval synagogue was destroyed and Jews were murdered or expelled in 1421, stones from the synagogue were used in early buildings that later became part of the university.
Claims Conference Executive Vice President Greg Schneider said the project is designed to reach younger audiences.
“Benno was the same age as today’s students when he was torn from his home by the Nazis and forced onto a deportation train to Auschwitz,” Schneider said.
“Benno’s Light” combines footage, photographs, music and historical material from the Anschluss to Auschwitz with hand-drawn animation. It is expected to be shown in museums and at film festivals, with educational materials under development.