As Holocaust survivors age and firsthand testimonies become rarer, educators, researchers and designers are increasingly turning to emerging technologies to preserve memory, promote empathy and engage younger generations far beyond museums and classrooms with narrative games and immersive virtual spaces that allow users to not only observe history but also interact with it.
The challenge is no longer whether to use new technologies, but whether they will be used thoughtfully enough to ensure their memory endures for generations to come, as these modern tools open up new – and sometimes uncomfortable – questions about interactivity, responsibility and historical truth.
From taboo to tool: ‘Video games and the Holocaust are mainstream’
Long considered the last taboo on Holocaust representation, video games are now increasingly part of the conversation, as research-led approaches have seen studios work closely with historians, educators and archives, creating space for designers like Luc Bernard, whose The light in the darkness video game follows a Jewish family in Nazi-occupied France.
It doesn’t have a Hollywood ending; I decided to show the real story, which is that most Jews were murdered during the Holocaust.
“It doesn’t have a Hollywood ending; I decided to show the real story, which is that most Jews were murdered during the Holocaust,” said Mr. Bernard, who is currently working on the director’s cut, funded by the Claims Conference and META, which will feature the original vision he intended with additional scenes that delve deeper into the story.
“It is no longer a taboo subject,” Mr Bernard said. “Video games and the Holocaust are mainstream.”
The light in the darkness has reached an audience far beyond traditional educational institutions, with an average gamer age of 35 among players from countries like Saudi Arabia who have deeply engaged with the story, he said.
“People connect with the characters, and it resonates with them more than it does with films about the Holocaust,” he said. “That’s just the power of video games or any form of art. It depends on how you direct it.”
Building a resilient digital memory
The current landscape requires a fundamental rethinking of how Holocaust memory is produced and maintained in the digital age, from interactivity to what it means when users engage with the past in these spaces, said Ms Richardson-Walden, whose work brings together educators, researchers, policy makers, technology companies and memory institutions around the world.
Indeed, collaboration is essential, including to ensure that Holocaust memory remains resilient as digital formats proliferate, she added.
“If we don’t all come together, we are wasting resources. We are spreading our human resources, our financial resources, our technologies and our time very thinly,” she warned, adding that one of the biggest risks lies not in the technology itself, but in the way digital projects are financed.
Moreover, short-term initiatives, from apps to virtual exhibitions, are often expensive and quickly become outdated as software changes cause projects to “break and disappear” alongside the digitized materials, metadata and knowledge behind them, she said. “It’s just all gone.”
Rethinking interactivity and risk: ‘You can’t change the story’
Instead, Ms Richardson-Walden called for investment in shared digital infrastructure. Aligned databases, common standards and permanent digital expertise within institutions would enable memory organizations to quickly adapt to the emergence of new technologies, whether gaming, virtual reality or artificial intelligence (AI).
Interactivity is often misunderstood, especially in discussions about video games, because there are fears that users can make changes to what happened during the Holocaust, she said.
“But everyone in the gaming industry understands that this is an illusion of choice,” she said. “You can’t change the story.”
AI risks: catching up with the tech world
At the same time, Ms. Richardson-Walden warned of real risks in today’s digital environment, especially with the rapid spread of generative AI. Holocaust-related content circulates widely online, making it vulnerable to monetization without historical insight or ethical oversight.
“People know that the Holocaust does well online,” she explains. “The Holocaust is a hot topic. People know about it. People want to talk about it, which is great, but also a problem in this area because that means there is money to be made from it.”
Listen to an interview with Professor Victoria Grace Richardson-Wald:
Referring to the mass production of AI images on social media, she said: “We have to find a way to kind of keep up with the speed of the tech world, because otherwise the policies and discussions we’re having will be so far behind reality that they’ll become a bit pointless.”
Staying informed about the technical world
Both Mr Bernard and Ms Richardson-Walden emphasized that responsibility for the digital memory of the Holocaust extends beyond individual creators, with technology companies, funders and governments working with educators and creatives to develop ethical, sustainable approaches.
“These conversations used to take place in marginal spaces,” said Ms Richardson-Walden, following a panel debate on technology, memory and the future of Holocaust remembrance at UN Headquarters in New York.
Now international forums, including the United Nations, play an important role in turning discussion into coordinated action.
View the Technology, memory and the future of Holocaust remembrance panel discussion at the UN here.
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