AI Unveils Historical Figures Linked to Nazi Atrocities
While AI often gets a bad rap—think fraud and deepfakes—it’s also stepping up in a significant way: by helping to reveal the identities of historical figures involved in heinous acts. A German historian has leveraged this technology to identify a notorious Nazi executioner seen in a World War II photograph, over 80 years after the image was captured.
Jürgen Matthäus, the historian who investigated this case, noted, “From what I’ve heard from technical experts, this match is unusually high in terms of the percentage that the algorithm throws in there,” as he shared insights with media.
The eerie photograph, taken in what is now Ukraine, captures a bespectacled Nazi soldier aiming a pistol at a man in a suit who is kneeling near a mass grave, with fellow SS troops looking on.
Known as “The Last Jew of Vinnitsa,” this image puzzled historians for decades until AI, historical documentation, and personal accounts helped unearth its secrets.
A recent study suggests the massacre occurred on July 28, 1941, in the Berdychikh citadel, rather than Vinnitsa, as was previously believed. The Einsatzgruppe C Regiment was responsible for exterminating “Jews and partisans” in newly occupied Soviet territories prior to Adolf Hitler’s visit.
Jacobus Onnen, identified as the gunman, was a teacher fluent in French and English, born in Tichelwalf, Germany, in 1906. He became part of the Nazi Party in 1931.
Last year, after details regarding the actual date, location, and troops involved surfaced in German media, Matthäus stumbled upon this revelation partly by chance. A reader came forward with vital information that linked Onnen to the execution in the photograph.
Matthäus found that the gunman shared a striking resemblance with his wife’s uncle, providing important biographical details that fed into the investigation. The images were analyzed with help from volunteers in the open-source journalism group, Bellingcat, who utilized forensic techniques aided by AI.
According to Matthäus, the combination of evidence collected and the AI’s findings seemed solid enough to move forward with the publication of these results.
Yet, while acknowledging AI’s crucial role, Matthäus emphasized, “it’s not a silver bullet” but merely one of various tools available; the “human element remains key.” What sparked Onnen’s radicalization is still a mystery, but he was reportedly a dedicated Nazi. By August 1939, just before the war began, he had joined the SS Death Squad at Dachau concentration camp and was part of the Nazi “order police” in occupied Poland by 1940.
Shortly after the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, he joined Einsatzgruppe C and was seen actively participating in the brutal execution. The group reportedly exterminated nearly all of the 20,000 Jews present when they arrived.
“This kind of mass execution continued until the very last days of German control in the east,” Matthäus said. He also expressed that this image should hold as much significance as the gates of Auschwitz, emphasizing the direct confrontation between murderer and victim.
Despite his fervor, Onnen never rose beyond lower ranks and was reportedly killed in combat with partisans in Ukraine’s Zhytomyr region around 1943.
As for the victim in the photograph, their identity remains unknown, but Matthäus plans to tackle this aspect in future research, potentially using Soviet-era records and AI once more.
