Heartbreaking stories of children who ‘fed ducks’ and ‘loved violins’ are being shared by tens of thousands – but they never existed. Now experts warn the AI fakes could fuel Holocaust denial
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 with a blistering condemnation.
‘PROFOUND ACT OF DISRESPECT’
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. They exploit Holocaust memory for clicks, shares, and reach. They contribute to confusion and the erosion of historical accuracy.”
The museum added: “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’ – followed by more than 5,000 people.
Shockingly, the post has hijacked the name of a real Holocaust survivor 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.
INVENTED TRAGEDY
The fabricated post reads: “On 10 September 1931, in the graceful, water-laced city of Amsterdam, a little girl named Hannelore Cohen was born. 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.”
CASHING IN ON TRAGEDY
An investigation by fact-checkers has uncovered the shocking truth behind these posts – they appear to be motivated by money.
Russian-language fact-checking site Provereno found more than a dozen Facebook pages trafficking in fictitious, AI-generated biographies of supposed Holocaust victims, likely earning revenue through Meta’s invitation-only “Performance Bonus” program.
One AI-generated Holocaust post from the page “90’s History” with 9,600 likes, 1,300 comments, and nearly 1,000 shares could have generated roughly $77 in revenue – at minimal production cost.
The Auschwitz Museum singled out “90’s History” as one of the worst offenders, revealing they copy real names, dates and biographical facts from the museum’s authentic posts – then pair them with completely fabricated AI images.
PERFECT FACES, FALSE MEMORIES
The museum warned: “These are not real photos of the victims. They are digital inventions, often stylized or sanitized, that risk turning remembrance into fictionalized performance.”
Karen Pollock, chief executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust, told Jewish News the use of generative AI posed a serious threat to Holocaust education: “It blurs the line between truth and fiction, undermining public understanding and hindering efforts to combat Holocaust distortion and denial.
Deputy spokesman for the Auschwitz Museum, Pawel Sawicki, warned the fake posts could even fuel Holocaust denial: “There is, of course, a danger that if we have these fake people, then perhaps someone could claim that the whole thing is made up.
META REFUSES TO ACT
In a shocking development, the Auschwitz Memorial confirmed it reported the issue to Meta, providing information about both the “90’s History” page and another account, “Timeless Tales”, which had posted fake victim names alongside AI-generated images.
However, Meta informed the Memorial that the content does not violate its policies and would not be removed.
The investigation revealed that “90’s History” was reportedly managed by the fire marshal’s office in Tennessee until spring 2024, while another page, “Historical Snapshots”, appears to be managed from Myanmar – yet both received “verified” status from Meta.
ELDERLY DUPED
Many of the comments underneath the fake posts read “RIP” or “So sad.” The people leaving the comments appear to trend older toward the baby boomer generation, seemingly unaware they’re mourning people who never existed.
The pages never mention that the content is fake and present themselves as legitimate history sources, even adding dates to when the “photos” were supposedly taken.
One particularly egregious example shows an AI-generated version of the Auschwitz orchestra – a clean, contemporary image of men in uniform performing in a pristine hall, replacing authentic historical photography from the camp.
REAL NAMES, FAKE FACES
In some cases, the pages have taken real Holocaust victims’ names from Israel’s Yad Vashem archives and paired them with fictional birth dates, hometowns, and death narratives.
The museum has documented cases where authentic photos of real victims like Helena Waterman-de Jong and Léon Gorfinkel were replaced with polished AI portraits alongside their real biographical information.
EXPLOITATION FOR PROFIT
The Auschwitz Museum’s scathing statement warned: “What makes this particularly troubling is that their posts copy real content — including names, dates, and biographical facts taken directly from our posts — yet they pair this information with fabricated, AI-generated images that mislead viewers.”
They added: “The tragedy of Auschwitz does not need to be made more visual, more ’emotional’ or more ‘shareable.’ It needs to be remembered truthfully.”
UNESCO has already warned that AI could result in false and misleading claims about the Holocaust spreading online, with experts fearing the technology could be used to create “deepfakes” suggesting the Holocaust didn’t happen or was exaggerated.
As Holocaust survivors dwindle and two-thirds of millennials say they haven’t even heard of Auschwitz, the danger of these fabricated memories replacing real history becomes ever more acute.
The museum’s final plea was stark: “Fabricating faces with AI does not preserve memory. It reshapes it, distorts it, and risks turning tragedy into aestheticized fiction.”
