Immersive virtual reality (VR) offers promising approaches for engaging with difficult heritage and human rights issues, potentially fostering deeper emotional connections than traditional educational formats. This paper evaluates the impact of ‘Nobody's Listening’ (NL), an immersive VR experience documenting the Yazidi genocide in Iraq (2014-17). Through assessment of 127 non-Yazidi participants from diverse Iraqi ethnic backgrounds, we examined VR's effectiveness for emotionally engaging with difficult heritage, raising awareness of sensitive human rights issues, and inspiring positive action. Our mixed-methods approach combined pre-experience surveys, observations, and post-experience interviews and questionnaires, employing historical empathy theory framework to assess cognitive and emotional engagement. Results demonstrate significant impact across multiple dimensions: 85% of participants reported increased awareness of the genocide, with 70.8% describing positive knowledge change about Yazidi culture. Emotional engagement was substantial—over 80% experienced intense reactions to the VR experience, with 86.7% reporting feeling moved by the Yazidi’s story. Notably, 56.6% of significant impressions included elements of historical empathy (historic contextualization, perspective-taking, and affective connection). Furthermore, 92.2% of respondents believed justice had not been served in the Yazidi genocide, with many expressing intentions to learn more and support advocacy efforts. This research contributes empirical evidence for how immersive technologies can effectively communicate traumatic cultural heritage while fostering reconciliation in post-conflict societies, with implications for museums, heritage sites, and human rights education.