Facial recognition tech to find the Holocaust's lost horrors

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(SOUNDBITE) (English) SAUL LIEBERMAN, WHO SENT HIS FATHER'S PHOTO TO SHEM OLAM HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL CENTRE FOR FACIAL RECOGNITION, SAYING:

"We have very little information about my father, we know very very little and in fact, what we know is entirely I'd say from outside sources, I know almost nothing from my father himself."

Saul and his brother Eli know that their father survived the Holocaust, but he never spoke of his experiences at Auschwitz.

Now they're turning to modern facial recognition technology to help them, and potentially many others, put the pieces of their family puzzle together.

Shem Olam Holocaust Memorial Centre launched its "Face to Face" project in July.

It relies on a database of tens of thousands of photos, many taken by German Wehrmacht soldiers showing the troops themselves, as well as people in villages and towns with Jewish populations.

Avraham Krieger is the center's executive director.

(SOUNDBITE) (Hebrew) AVRAHAM KRIEGER, SHEM OLAM HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL CENTRE, SAYING:

''Face to Face' is aimed first and foremost at giving some response to the chaotic reality created following the Holocaust. We think that the reality of the Holocaust is only the reality of six million Jews who were murdered but it's not so. It's a reality that cut off any connection for those who survived, almost any connection to their past. And not only for them but also for their future families."

Saul and Eli brought a photo of their father to be cross-referenced with the catalogue of stored images, as well as thousands sent in from the public via social media.

But the brothers are still waiting for a match.

The organization hopes that advances in technology and an expanding database would help connect a younger generation to the Holocaust.

(SOUNDBITE) (English) SAUL LIEBERMAN, SON OF HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR, SAYING:

"We live in a world now that if you can't provide the document or the picture, it doesn't feel like it happened. And in a world where my daughter, all of her friends know their family history, there is a sense of ruthlessness that you don't know. People want to know where they came from, who they came from."

The service is provided free of charge and those behind it hope it will help fight Holocaust denial.

Auschwitz, the former Nazi death camp where more than 1.1 million people died, will mark the 75th anniversary of the camp's liberation on January 27.