Latest news with #DimensionsinTestimony
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Lighting the way: 30 years of CANDLES and Eva Kor's legacy
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV) — In a small building off South Third Street in Terre Haute, the legacy of Holocaust survivors continues to echo. This year, the CANDLES Holocaust Museum marks three decades since Eva Kor turned her trauma into a mission for education and healing. 'It hasn't been easy over the past thirty years, when you have a fire bombing in 2003, Eva passing away in 2019 and COVID, those types of things make a small non profit challenging but that's what great about being here in the Wabash Valley and being in Terre Haute,' Troy Fears, Executive Director of CANDLES Holocaust Museum said. 'Each time those things have happened, people have rallied around the museum.' Kor, a survivor of the Auschwitz death camp and of the inhumane experiments of Dr. Josef Mengele, founded the museum. The doors were opened on April 30, 1995. The museum became a rare space in Indiana focusing on the Holocaust and her personal journey of forgiveness as Indiana's only Holocaust Museum. 'Eva obviously went through some atrocities during the Holocaust, but she persevered,' Fears said. 'And to be able to tell that story with hope and peace as the elements of that is pretty powerful and still as powerful today as it was thirty years ago,' he added. From student field trips to educational trips to Auschwitz, CANDLES has evolved with the time, reimagining and creating new exhibits like 'Dimensions in Testimony,' where visitors can speak directly to 12 Holocaust survivors, including Eva. WTWO Reporter Jen Thompson sat across from a digital version of Eva Kor while visiting the museum. There she could ask Eva thousands of questions. It's one of the ways the museum keeps Eva's voice and her message alive.' Eva passed away in 2019, but her presence is felt in every corner of the space. From the artifacts she preserved to the stories still being told. 'We're hopeful that for the next thirty years we can continue to evolve and continue to tell her story, and not just her story, but other survivors' stories, so people never forget what happened during the Holocaust,' Fears said. Speaking to Eva through the 'Dimensions in Testimony,' Jen asked, 'What would you like us to learn from your experience?: 'Forgive your worst enemy. Forgive everybody who has ever hurt you. It will heal your soul and set you free,' the recorded voice of Eva Kor said. Thirty years later, CANDLES continues to light the way, one visitor, one story, one lesson at a time. To commemorate the anniversary Candles Holocaust Museum & Education Center is offering 'free' or 'pay as you wish days.' Those dates are Thursday, May 1, Friday, May 2, and Saturday, May 3 during regular museum hours. The museum is open Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays from 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. The late Eva Kor's son, Dr. Alex Kor, will be a guest speaker on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hamilton Spectator
25-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Hamilton Spectator
AI brings Holocaust survivors' stories to chilling, emotional life at Canadian Museum for Human Rights
The Canadian Museum for Human Rights is using artificial intelligence to introduce visitors to lifelike avatars of aging survivors of the Holocaust who can hold real-time conversations with them. Grades 7 to 12 students from École Héritage Immersion School were the first to experience the immersive technology Friday. The group met Marguerite Élias Quddus and Pinchas Gutter — or rather, interactive autobiographies that the Jewish-Canadians helped record and resemble holograms of them in a dark theatre. 'They say a picture's worth a thousand words,' said Adam Thorvaldson, a history teacher from the kindergarten-to-Grade 12 school in St. Pierre-Jolys, located about 50 kilometres southeast of Winnipeg. 'In this scenario, they have a moving picture of a survivor, as well as their direct story, and they are stories that we'd never be able to recoup without technology like this.' Thorvaldson's students took turns using a mic to ask questions, such as 'When was the last time you saw your family?' Every prompt yielded an immediate oral and written reply from a realistic avatar and complementary chatbox. The Dimensions in Testimony exhibit relies on hundreds of hours of video interviews with survivors about their separate lives before, during and after the Second World War. Élias Quddus, who was born in Paris and now lives in Montreal, shared intimate details about how she hid her true identity during the systematic murder of six million Jews between 1941 and 1945. Toronto-based Gutter spoke about being separated from his family in Lódź, Poland and forced into concentration camps. Grade 8 student Monroe Audette said the unique medium of storytelling allowed her and her peers to observe how deeply emotional these experiences — and recounting them — was for survivors. Their body language, including foot-tapping, and mid-reply voice cracks have stuck with her, the 14-year-old said. Audience members flinched Friday when the on-screen Gutter suddenly rose his hands above his head as he recalled a harrowing anecdote about the Nazi operations. 'I didn't know why they made us run with our hands up, and then I learned that they… could squeeze more and more people into the gas chamber (that way),' he said. The AI program processes and matches key words from user questions with corresponding footage of Élias Quddus and Gutter. It was developed by the University of Southern California Shoah Foundation. Schindler's List director Steven Spielberg founded the non-profit organization to create educational audio-visual content to share Holocaust survivor and witness testimonies. 'When they tell you the story in their own words, it makes it more impactful,' said Azalea Hiebert, 13, after visiting the interactive exhibit in Winnipeg. Museum curator Jeremy Maron noted that there are fewer survivors of this historic tragedy who are able to share their first-hand experiences every year. This tool will ensure engaging conversations with direct witnesses to history continue to happen, said Maron, who oversees the museum's Holocaust and genocide exhibits. Both Élias Quddus and Gutter have agreed to allow their stories — in French and English, respectively — to continue being aired after they die.
Winnipeg Free Press
25-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Winnipeg Free Press
AI brings Holocaust survivors' stories to chilling, emotional life at Canadian Museum for Human Rights
The Canadian Museum for Human Rights is using artificial intelligence to introduce visitors to lifelike avatars of aging survivors of the Holocaust who can hold real-time conversations with them. Grades 7 to 12 students from École Héritage Immersion School were the first to experience the immersive technology Friday. The group met Marguerite Élias Quddus and Pinchas Gutter — or rather, interactive autobiographies that the Jewish-Canadians helped record and resemble holograms of them in a dark theatre. Grade 11 and 12 students from École Héritage in St. Pierre-Jolys were the first to experience immersive technology that allows students to connect with Holocaust survivors at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights on Friday. (Ruth Bonneville / Free Press) 'They say a picture's worth a thousand words,' said Adam Thorvaldson, a history teacher from the kindergarten-to-Grade 12 school in St. Pierre-Jolys, located about 50 kilometres southeast of Winnipeg. 'In this scenario, they have a moving picture of a survivor, as well as their direct story, and they are stories that we'd never be able to recoup without technology like this.' Thorvaldson's students took turns using a mic to ask questions, such as 'When was the last time you saw your family?' Every prompt yielded an immediate oral and written reply from a realistic avatar and complementary chatbox. The Dimensions in Testimony exhibit relies on hundreds of hours of video interviews with survivors about their separate lives before, during and after the Second World War. Élias Quddus, who was born in Paris and now lives in Montreal, shared intimate details about how she hid her true identity during the systematic murder of six million Jews between 1941 and 1945. Toronto-based Gutter spoke about being separated from his family in Lódź, Poland and forced into concentration camps. Grade 8 student Monroe Audette said the unique medium of storytelling allowed her and her peers to observe how deeply emotional these experiences — and recounting them — was for survivors. Their body language, including foot-tapping, and mid-reply voice cracks have stuck with her, the 14-year-old said. Audience members flinched Friday when the on-screen Gutter suddenly rose his hands above his head as he recalled a harrowing anecdote about the Nazi operations. 'I didn't know why they made us run with our hands up, and then I learned that they… could squeeze more and more people into the gas chamber (that way),' he said. An image of Holocaust survivor Pinchas Gutter interacts with Grade 11 and 12 students from École Héritage through an innovative program called Dimensions in Testimony at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. (Ruth Bonneville / Free Press) The AI program processes and matches key words from user questions with corresponding footage of Élias Quddus and Gutter. It was developed by the University of Southern California Shoah Foundation. Schindler's List director Steven Spielberg founded the non-profit organization to create educational audio-visual content to share Holocaust survivor and witness testimonies. During Elections Get campaign news, insight, analysis and commentary delivered to your inbox during Canada's 2025 election. 'When they tell you the story in their own words, it makes it more impactful,' said Azalea Hiebert, 13, after visiting the interactive exhibit in Winnipeg. Museum curator Jeremy Maron noted that there are fewer survivors of this historic tragedy who are able to share their first-hand experiences every year. This tool will ensure engaging conversations with direct witnesses to history continue to happen, said Maron, who oversees the museum's Holocaust and genocide exhibits. Both Élias Quddus and Gutter have agreed to allow their stories — in French and English, respectively — to continue being aired after they die. Maggie MacintoshEducation reporter Maggie Macintosh reports on education for the Free Press. Originally from Hamilton, Ont., she first reported for the Free Press in 2017. Read more about Maggie. Funding for the Free Press education reporter comes from the Government of Canada through the Local Journalism Initiative. Every piece of reporting Maggie produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
