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AI Unveils Nazi's Identity in Misidentified Holocaust Photo

10/2/2025

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Summary

Story summary

Historian Jürgen Matthäus identifies Jakobus Onnen, a Nazi party member since 1933, in a July 28, 1941 Berdychiv photo.
Image misidentified as 'The Last Jew in Vinnitsa,' shows a soldier aiming at a man beside a corpse pit.
Matthäus used artificial intelligence (AI) and archival research to confirm Onnen's identity; by 1944, 15 of Berdychiv's 20,000 Jews survived.

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Story summary

Historian Jürgen Matthäus identifies Jakobus Onnen, a Nazi party member since 1933, in a July 28, 1941 Berdychiv photo.
Image misidentified as 'The Last Jew in Vinnitsa,' shows a soldier aiming at a man beside a corpse pit.
Matthäus used artificial intelligence (AI) and archival research to confirm Onnen's identity; by 1944, 15 of Berdychiv's 20,000 Jews survived.