Historian uses AI to help identify Nazi in notorious Holocaust murder image
13 hours ago
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- The chilling Holocaust image depicts a Nazi soldier executing a kneeling man in front of a pit of corpses, long misidentified as 'The Last Jew in Vinnitsa.'
- Historian Jürgen Matthäus used AI and archival research to identify the likely killer as Jakobus Onnen, an SS member from Einsatzgruppe C.
- The massacre occurred on 28 July 1941 in Berdychiv, Ukraine, a historic Jewish center, during Hitler's visit preparations.
- Bellingcat volunteers aided in AI image analysis, though historical photos pose challenges for high-confidence matches.
- Onnen, a low-ranking Nazi, was never promoted and died in battle in 1943; his motivations remain unclear.
- Matthäus highlights the role of AI in historical research but emphasizes the irreplaceable human factor.
- The image, taken as a 'trophy,' underscores the hands-on brutality of Nazi executions in Eastern Europe.
- Most victims in the occupied Soviet Union remain unnamed, as intended by the Nazis.
- Matthäus continues efforts to identify the victim in the photograph using Soviet-era records and AI.