On Thursday, September 4, 2025, The Museum of Kansas City unveiled a groundbreaking new exhibit offering a conversational, interactive experience with great-grandmother, businesswoman, and Holocaust survivor Sonia Warshawski—fondly known as Big Sonia.
The exhibit is located in the Museum’s third-floor gallery, Our City, Our Stories, and admission is free. It is presented in collaboration with Leah Warshawski, Sonia’s granddaughter and Impact Producer/Director of Inflatable Film, and StoryFile, a division of Authentic Interactions.
StoryFile created the interactive experience to preserve and share Sonia’s powerful testimony in her own words. In 2021, Sonia recorded more than 400 questions about her life, experiences, and lessons of resilience in a professional studio, sitting in her favorite leopard-print chair. Using proprietary technology, StoryFile trained the responses to allow visitors to engage in meaningful conversations with Sonia’s recorded likeness.
The experience begins with an introduction by Sonia’s oldest daughter, Regina Kort. When visitors ask Sonia a question, the system delivers the closest matching pre-recorded response—ensuring that every interaction reflects Sonia’s authentic voice and testimony. Importantly, StoryFile did not use artificial intelligence to modify or generate responses; every answer comes directly from Sonia as she shared it during the recording process.
This exhibit is made possible through the generous support of the Barton P. Cohen and Mary Davidson Cohen Charitable Trust, housed at Midwest Trust Company.