Benno's Light: How Immersive Tech Illuminates Holocaust Survivor Stories

NEW YORK, NY – June 03, 2026 – As the world grapples with the dwindling number of living Holocaust survivors, the imperative to preserve their testimonies has entered a new, technologically advanced phase. Today, the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany (Claims Conference) announced the launch of "Benno's Light," a groundbreaking mixed-reality (XR) experience that brings the harrowing and inspiring story of 98-year-old survivor Benno Kern to a global audience. Accessible via VR headsets or standard computers, the project represents a significant leap in using immersive technology not just to document history, but to make it profoundly felt.

Developed in partnership with the Austrian government and the immersive technology firm makemepulse, "Benno's Light" is more than a digital archive; it is a guided, emotional journey. It follows Kern from his childhood in Vienna through the terror of the Anschluss, the flight of his family, their eventual capture, his deportation to Auschwitz, and his liberation in Buchenwald. The initiative is a direct response to a critical challenge: ensuring the lessons of the Shoah resonate with generations who will have no direct contact with those who endured it.

"Mixed reality is the technology of now and of the future," said Gideon Taylor, President of the Claims Conference. "And it is precisely why it is so crucial that we tap into advanced technology to help future generations understand the Holocaust. We cannot let stories like Benno's fade into the darkness."

The Technology of Testimony: Crafting an Immersive Past

At the heart of "Benno's Light" is a deliberate choice to prioritize emotional connection over technological spectacle. The experience eschews hyper-realism for a stylized, hand-drawn aesthetic that animates Benno Kern’s own narration. This artistic world is interwoven with real-life footage, archival photographs, and music, creating a mixed-reality tapestry that grounds the animated narrative in historical fact. This approach follows the success of the Claims Conference's 2024 project, "Inside Kristallnacht," signaling a clear strategic investment in XR as a primary tool for modern education.

For the creators at makemepulse, the project's central challenge was to maintain the intimacy of a personal testimony within a digital framework. "Benno's Light was never about using technology for spectacle," explained Nicolas Rajabaly, Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer. "The challenge was finding a way to preserve the intimacy and humanity of Benno's testimony while creating a format capable of reaching new generations... Immersive technology gave us the opportunity to transform testimony into something audiences could feel around them rather than simply observe from a distance."

This focus on felt experience is where the technology's true impact lies. Unlike a textbook or a traditional documentary, the XR format fosters a sense of presence. For today's students, it bridges a historical and emotional gap. Greg Schneider, Executive Vice President of the Claims Conference, highlighted this unique capability: "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. XR technology allows Benno to once again be a 15-year-old, showing today's 15-year-olds the result of unchecked hatred." By making history personal and relatable, the technology aims to cultivate a deeper, more enduring form of empathy and understanding.

A Single Light Against the Darkness: The Story of Benno Kern

While the technology provides the medium, the power of "Benno's Light" flows from the voice at its center: Benno Kern. Born in Vienna in 1927, Kern's story is a devastating microcosm of the Holocaust's human toll. He is the sole member of his immediate family to have survived. The XR experience allows users to follow his journey not as a statistic, but as a boy whose joyful childhood in a city of music and intellect was stolen by rising hatred.

The narrative follows the Kern family's desperate flight from Vienna to Czechoslovakia, then to Belgium, and finally to Paris, where Benno and his parents were captured by the Nazis and deported to Auschwitz. Throughout the experience, it is Benno's own voice that guides the user, recounting the unimaginable choices and circumstances he faced. His memory of his mother’s final words to him serves as a poignant anchor for the entire project: "I'll never forget my mother's words: 'You have the opportunity to stay alive. The decision is yours.'"

This personal testimony is what transforms the experience from a history lesson into a sacred act of remembrance. For more than 80 years, Kern carried his family's story alone. His participation in this project reflects a profound desire to pass that memory on. "This project has special meaning to me as I carried my family's story for more than 80 years with uncertainty as to whether it would be remembered," Kern stated. "I ask future generations to hear my words and carry them forward in your hearts. Let them light your way. And let them remind you what it means to carry compassion, even in the darkest of times."

A Digital Reckoning: Austria Confronts Its History

The launch of "Benno's Light" is also a story of national reckoning. The partnership with the Austrian government and the choice of the University of Vienna as the launch venue are deeply symbolic acts. For decades after the war, Austria largely portrayed itself as the first victim of Nazi aggression. This project is part of a continuing, and crucial, shift towards acknowledging its historical co-responsibility for the atrocities of the Shoah.

"Holocaust remembrance is not only an obligation to the past, it is our mandate for the future," said Christian Stocker, Austrian Federal Chancellor. He emphasized the need to meet younger generations where they are, using innovative tools to "strengthen awareness, deepen understanding and sharpen our vigilance against antisemitism, hatred and intolerance in all forms."

This commitment is powerfully reflected in the launch site. The University of Vienna has a complex and painful history; following the destruction of the city's medieval synagogue in 1421, stones from the ruins were used in the construction of its early buildings. Centuries later, during the Nazi era, the university became a center for antisemitic ideology, expelling its Jewish faculty and students. By hosting the launch of "Benno's Light," the institution transforms a site once connected to the erasure of Jewish life into a space dedicated to its preservation and memory.

Alexander Pröll, State Secretary for the Austrian Federal Chancellery, reinforced this sentiment, stating, "Remembering the Shoah demands that we actively counter antisemitism and hatred wherever they surface, reinforcing our shared responsibility to defend human dignity, historical truth, and democratic values." The project is thus both an educational tool and a political statement, demonstrating a nation's use of modern technology to confront its past openly.

"Benno's Light" joins a growing landscape of digital remembrance projects, including the USC Shoah Foundation's interactive "Dimensions in Testimony" and the Anne Frank House's VR tour. Each initiative uses technology in unique ways to ensure that as the last living witnesses fall silent, their stories will not only be preserved but will continue to be told with the intimacy and urgency they demand. Through these digital echoes, personal histories are becoming permanent, accessible fixtures of our collective memory, ensuring that a survivor's light can continue to shine for generations to come.