Keeping the Memories Alive Film By Film

By Talya Mendelson (’25)

s the last generation of Holocaust survivors begins to pass away, we must find a way to keep their memories alive. When the last survivor of the Holocaust dies, no one will be left that had a first-hand account of the horrors of the Holocaust. No one will be left to pass their stories down to the next generation. There are many programs for Holocaust survivors to sit down and tell their stories. There is even a program that allows people to ask survivors questions, including ones who have passed away.

Heather Maio came up with the idea to use artificial intelligence technology to have a hologram picture of the survivor for people to be able to ask them questions. Maio worked on many Holocaust projects and got the opportunity to speak with many survivors firsthand; she wanted others to have the same opportunities she had. She wanted people to be able to sit in front of the survivors and have a conversation with them, so she came up with the idea to have a Holocaust survivor film their story. Later, they would turn these videos into a hologram that people could ask questions to and learn from. This would be the perfect opportunity to enable their memories to live forever.

Maio introduced this idea to Stephen Smith, the executive director of the Shoah Foundation at the University of Southern California, and he loved the idea. They both received a lot of pushback from their peers and colleagues. Everyone had many questions, except the survivors themselves who thought it was an amazing idea. Many people believed that they would not get the true idea of their stories, and one person even asked why they wanted to talk to people who have passed away. Even with this pushback, they continued with this project. The first survivor to be filmed was a man named Pinchas Gutter. He was born in Poland and was later deported to the Majdanek concentration camp along with his parents and twin sister at the age of 11. In the concentration camp, they split up his family and he became the sole survivor of his family. Gutter flew from Toronto to Los Angeles to film his story. He was filmed in something that they call “the bubble.” “The bubble” is a dome covered in lights with over 20 cameras from all different angles.

On the first day of filming, Guter went into “the bubble.” They pressed go on the cameras but nothing happened. As he was waiting for the filming to begin, he started to sing to himself. This gave Stephen Smith the idea to film some of his songs. Eventually, they got the technology to work and they began filming. He filmed from nine to five for a week straight; the filming process took so long because they asked him nearly 2,000 questions about his story. You can now visit the hologram of Gutter in Holocaust museums in Dallas, Indiana, and Chicago, where you are able to ask questions and hear his story. Gutter's interview was also tested in schools where students would be able to ask questions through their computers and he would respond accordingly.

Since the end of Gutter's filming, they have filmed 21 more survivors, three of which have already passed away. They shrank the size of the filming equipment required to film these interviews so that they can travel to the survivors. Stephen Smith explains how important it is to get survivors who have different backgrounds, religions, and stories. The memories of the survivors could’ve been forgotten if it wasn’t for these filmings. Their memories will live forever thanks to Stephen Smith and Heather Maio’s hard work. Keeping the memory of these survivors alive is crucial in ensuring we never forget the horrors of the Holocaust.