Latest news with #AuschwitzMemorial
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
California governor candidate calls Auschwitz 'solution for homelessness,' sparks critisism
California's candidate Langford said he was proud of his "German ancestry" and called Auschwitz a "great work camp," sparking controversy. The Auschwitz Memorial Museum slammed Kyle Langford, Republican candidate for Governor of California, after his antisemitic remarks, calling out his actions as a 'profound moral failure.' 'The instrumentalization of the tragedy of all those imprisoned and murdered in the German Nazi concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz for political messaging is a profound moral failure,' said the official Auschwitz Memorial Museum. 'Auschwitz is not a prop. Kyle Langford, your post is an affront to the dignity of the victims and a disturbing display of insensitivity and disregard for the horrifying human history.' Langford, who is currently the leading Republican candidate in California, published a photo of himself at the entrance of Auschwitz with a text that said: 'My 0% unemployment plan.' He also doubled down after being called out by the memorial museum, posting a message that said his 'German ancestors smile upon him' and thanked the organization for a 'shoutout.' A candidate with nothing to lose Langford's comments came as he aims to secure a spot as one of the two candidates to fight for the California governor, where he faces low chances of competing due to the nonpartisan top-two primaries system and the heavy advantage that Democrats have in the state. That allowed him to focus on a campaign centered around explosive comments, with antisemitism being one of his main points when trying to show himself as 'disruptive.' His comments on Auschwitz came as a 'solution' to the homelessness and unemployment crisis in California, while he also called the death camp a 'beautiful work camp.' Solve the daily Crossword
France 24
17-07-2025
- Entertainment
- France 24
How influencers are getting clicks by sharing AI-generated, fake images of the Holocaust
Social media users have been circulating an image since early July that they say is a photo of a prisoner in the Auschwitz concentration camp, where a million Jewish people were exterminated during World War II. The photo is said to show a man named Henek, a violinist who was forced to play in the camp's orchestra. "His role: to play music as fellow prisoners were led to the gas chambers,' reads one caption by a Facebook user. A video featuring the image of Henek was also widely shared on Facebook. A photo and video that were generated by AI However, as the team working at Poland's Auschwitz Memorial wrote on X on July 6, the photo is false – it was AI-generated. The museum calls the post a 'dangerous distortion' and adds that 'such fabrication disrespects victims and harasses their memory'. There are anomalies in both the photos and the video that are common in AI-generated images. If you increase the luminosity of the image to better see the details, one of the prisoners seems to be missing eyeballs. In the video, the hands of another prisoner appeared to be fused together. A story that is fake 'from A to Z' Aside from the visual anomalies, the photo and video, which are supposed to document the story of a violinist who played for prisoners sent to gas chambers, aren't credible from a historical point of view. "This story is fake from A to Z and for a very simple reason: people sent to the gas chambers were not serenaded by an orchestra,' Tal Bruttmann, a historian specialising in the history of Auschwitz, told the FRANCE 24 Observers team. 'The camp orchestras were generally playing march music when columns of prisoners were marching to work and returning to the camp,' the Auschwitz Memorial told our team. 'They were not playing for Jews who were murdered in gas chambers immediately after arrival selection.' The scene depicted in the photo also doesn't make sense, Bruttmann said. "To see a guy with a violin standing in the middle of a group of prisoners is ridiculous,' he told us. 'If you look at photos of the Auschwitz orchestra, you can see how they were [truly] organised.' Drawings of the Auschwitz orchestra made by camp prisoners show that the musicians were always in a group, under the supervision of guards. As camp life was highly controlled, it is very unlikely that one solo violinist would appear without the rest of the orchestra, which is what is shown in the photo and video that have been circulating online. Another thing that doesn't make sense in the AI-generated image is what the prisoners are wearing. "It doesn't correspond with the prisoner's uniform,' Bruttmann said. 'If you look at the photos that were taken in Auschwitz by the SS, you'll see that people didn't go around shirtless [Editor's note: like the man in the picture]. In a concentration camp, if you were shirtless, you were beaten or whipped.' Moreover, the man in the image shared online isn't wearing the striped uniform that most prisoners wore. The Auschwitz Memorial added that prisoners didn't wear belts like those in the AI-generated image. A worrying trend of AI-generated fake images of the Holocaust Representatives from the Auschwitz Memorial told our team about a growing – and worrying – online trend involving the use of AI to produce fake posts and stories about the Holocaust. In a post published on Facebook on June 8, the Memorial warned people to stay vigilant about pages appearing to share 'emotional tributes to Holocaust victims' that look like the posts shared by the museum. 'While some pages simply copy our posts, we can see more and more posts that either add AI-generated photos or are entirely fabricated,' the Memorial wrote in their post. The Memorial added that the posts featuring AI-generated images are 'dangerous distortions' of history that 'contribute to confusion and the erosion of historical accuracy'. They added that the stories accompanying these AI-generated images are often entirely fabricated, and that AI is used to generate fake photos not sourced from archives. "They exploit Holocaust memory for clicks, shares, and reach,' the Memorial said.
Express Tribune
10-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Express Tribune
Auschwitz Memorial condemns Michael Rapaport for osting fake AI-generated image of concentration camp
The Auschwitz Memorial and Museum has condemned actor Michael Rapaport for posting what it described as a 'fake, AI-generated' image falsely depicting a prisoner playing the violin inside the Auschwitz concentration camp. The post, made on Rapaport's Facebook, was accompanied by a 134-word fictional backstory, which has since been debunked by the museum as historically inaccurate. 'Publishing fake, AI-generated images of Auschwitz is not only a dangerous distortion. Such fabrication disrespects victims and harasses their memory,' the museum stated. 'If you see such posts, please don't share them.' The statement urged the public to rely on sources like the official Auschwitz Memorial account, which provides content based on verified historical research. The museum also highlighted several errors in Rapaport's post. These included a misspelling of the Polish name Henryk as 'Henek,' a fictional scenario in which orchestras played during death marches, and an implausible anecdote involving a girl hearing music from a men's orchestra camp. 'Every name, every photo, and every story is based on rigorous historical research and the utmost respect for the truth,' the museum added. Despite the strong response, Rapaport's original post has not been removed from Facebook and remains visible, with thousands of likes, shares, and comments—many from users who appear unaware of its inaccuracy. The controversy underscores growing concerns about the misuse of AI-generated content and the importance of preserving historical truth, particularly concerning atrocities such as the Holocaust.
Daily Mail
09-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Friends star Michael Rapaport SLAMMED for posting 'AI-generated' image of concentration camps
Actor Michael Rapaport faced criticism after a Holocaust-related image he posted to Facebook was later determined to be fake. The veteran actor, 55, on Saturday took to Facebook and posted the picture in question, depicting a violin player in an Auschwitz concentration camp. Rapaport, who's been seen in motion pictures such as True Romance, Higher Learning and Deep Blue Sea, garnered almost 9,900 likes and 1,200 shares on the image, Mediate reported, which he later apparently removed. The following day, the Auschwitz Memorial and Museum, which is based out of Poland, condemned the image as 'a dangerous distortion' of reality. The museum added via their Facebook page that 'publishing fake, AI-generated images' of Holocaust victims is disrespectful and harasses their memory;' and advised that 'if you see such posts, please don't share them.' Daily Mail has reached out to the actor via Instagram, as well as his rep, for further comment on the story. The museum advised to follow their pages 'where every name, every photo, and every story is based on rigorous historical research and the utmost respect for the truth.' A number of commenters commended the museum for setting the record straight on the topic. 'Thank you, for speaking out against those attempts to make a spectacle out of the real historic suffering,' one user wrote. The commenter said that 'the spectacle is not only disrespectful to the victims, it is also dangerous to the historic truth, because it mixes it with fantasy and fake and (willingly or unwillingly) makes it just some story instead of facts.' Another user remarked, Thank you for fighting for the voiceless in all of this. 'AI is proving to be a huge plague in the art community (which is what photos and writing is part of.) it's gross watching it bleed into real life tragedies as it robs humans of their humanity (in cases like these, for a second time.)' Another user who works as 'a full time violinist' thanked the museum for 'speaking out about these images,' noting that there has been much misleading information about musicians in a historical context circulated via AI. It was not immediately clear if the actor addressed the controversy as of Wednesday evening. Another lamented: 'I am beginning to lose all faith in mankind in this day and age. AI may be the future but the past needs to be remembered as it is.' Rapaport played the role of Gary - a police officer who was dating Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow) - on the NBC comedy Friends for four episodes during the show's fifth season in 1999. He appeared in four total episodes: The One with the Cop; The One with Rachel's Inadvertent Kiss; The One with the Ride Along; and The One with the Ball.
Daily Mail
10-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
The fake AI-generated Holocaust 'victims' duping thousands on Facebook - as Auschwitz museum slams 'dangerous distortions'
At first glance, it is a heartwarming photo: a little girl feeding the ducks on the canal in pre-war Amsterdam. A lengthy description explains that the girl, 'Hannelore Cohen', would 'skip along the cobblestone paths' each morning' - until 'the ducks never saw her again'. What follows is the claim that she was murdered at Sobibor death camp by the Nazis in the Holocaust - but it is not true. The photo has been generated by artificial intelligence, and the story that accompanies it is equally fictitious. The fake post is among dozens of similar ones featuring AI images of supposed Holocaust victims and details of what allegedly happened to them that are being shared to thousands of people on Facebook. Now, the Auschwitz Memorial museum has hit out at the growing phenomenon. A spokesman said: 'While these posts may seem well-intentioned to the audience, they are in fact dangerous distortions. 'They invent stories of people who never existed and present them as real victims. The lengthy post about alleged Holocaust victim Hannelore Cohen 'They exploit Holocaust memory for clicks, shares, and reach. They contribute to confusion and the erosion of historical accuracy.' 'The photos are AI-generated — eerily perfect, stylized, and not drawn from any historical archive. 'Some of the names do not appear in credible Holocaust victim databases and the entire biographies are fabricated.' The post featuring 'Hannelore Cohen' has been shared in a group called Historical Figures, which has more than 110,000 members. It was written by a page named 'Epic Movies'. The page is followed by more than 5,000 people. The post has used the name of a real Holocaust survivor who is listed on the website Refugee Voices as having come to England as part of the Kindertransport scheme for children in 1939. But the invented girl's life story bears no relation to the real Ms Cohen. The post says: 'On 10 September 1931, in the graceful, water-laced city of Amsterdam, a little girl named Hannelore Cohen was born. The accompanying life story says that she was born in the French city of Marseille, that every day she would 'skip to school, her pigtails swaying behind her like banners' and that she loved to read 'Her eyes sparkled with curiosity, and her soul seemed to be stitched from kindness. 'She loved simple pleasures, and few things brought her more joy than walking to the canal near her home, a paper bag of breadcrumbs in hand, ready to feed the ducks. 'Each morning, Hannelore would skip along cobblestone paths, the scent of tulips and fresh bread in the air. She'd stop at the edge of the canal and crumble the bread gently, tossing pieces into the still water. 'Ducks gathered near her like she was their friend. She giggled as they quacked and jostled, and sometimes she named them—"Willem," "Rosa," "Pieter." 'She spoke softly to them as if they understood.' It then adds: 'In 1943, when she was just 12 years old, Hannelore was taken from her home and sent to Sobibor, one of the cruelest death camps. There, her life was stolen. 'Her laughter, her crumbs, her gentle kindness—gone in a moment of merciless inhumanity. 'The ducks never saw her again. The water rippled, but no bread fell. 'And Amsterdam wept in silence. But we do not forget.' Another fake post - this time on a page with more than 14,000 followers called Days Gone By Memories - shows a young, bright-eyed girl named as Nadine Levy. The accompanying life story says that she was born in the French city of Marseille, that every day she would 'skip to school, her pigtails swaying behind her like banners' and that she loved to read. After being rounded up and sent to the notorious Auschwitz death camp in Nazi-occupied Poland, the biography says she read stories to lift the spirits of other inmates, and kept a secret diary. On the morning of her death, she is said to have 'whispered a goodbye to the rising sun,' and that after the war her diary was found 'pages worn but full of hope.' In another fake Holocaust post on the Epic Movies page, a girl named as Anja Bakker is seen standing in a field of daisies. According to her biography, before the war she 'ran barefoot in the grass, her laughter mingling with birdsong,' and she loved making daisy chains. The fake post then claims that after being murdered in Sobibor, 'the daisy chains she made' and 'the stories she told, lived on in the memory of survivors.' Established in May 1942, by the time it was closed 17 months later between 170,000 and 250,000 Jews had been murdered in Sobibor. Less than 60 inmates are known to have survived. The Auschwitz Museum spokesman also claimed that Meta, the owner of Facebook, has refused to act to remove the fake posts. They said: 'While some pages simply copy our posts, we can see more and more posts that either add AI-generated photo (sic) or are entirely fabricated. 'Even more troubling, Meta (Facebook) has so far refused to act on this. 'They claim that posts with AI-fabricated images or AI-fabricated information on Holocaust victims do not violate their platform's rules. 'This failure to act sets a dangerous precedent. 'Memory must be protected — not invented.' The accounts featuring the fake images and stories have been approached for comment.
