The success of "Eva's History" shows us that the way to make the Holocaust accessible to young people is on social media, and it is not about cheapness • Ilail Symbol: "There is a real difficulty in committing the Holocaust"
Millions of views and worldwide resonance.
"Eva's History"
Photography:
From Instagram
In the run-up to Holocaust Remembrance Day 2019, the country was shocked when huge signs announcing a new network series called "Eva's Story" hung above Ayalon lanes.
Eva Heiman is a 13-year-old Hungarian Jewish girl who perished in Auschwitz and recorded in her diary the last months of her life.
But entrepreneur Matti Kochavi and his daughter Maya, creators of the innovative project uploaded to Instagram as a line of stories, recorded a dizzying success with 300 million views in the first 48 hours of airing, and unprecedented international media exposure, bringing with it millions of prestigious followers and international awards, collaborations and recipients. Opinion in Israel and around the world, from Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House and Arab countries, from Gal Gadot to Jerry Seinfeld and more.
It seems that the innovation and impact of "Eva's History" brought about a change in the perception of memory and commemoration of the Holocaust, presented through a new media genre that opens the door to bringing young people closer, that the media is where they are for many hours.
Here they also met Eva's story, and with it the way was opened for them to study and commemorate the Holocaust.
Today (Wednesday), International Holocaust Remembrance Day, and on the 76th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz extermination camp, the "Continuing Generations" associations, headed by Chairman Billy Lanyado and in collaboration with Yad Vashem, will hold an online zoom event at 6:30 p.m.
"The social and digital media in the struggle for the memory of the Holocaust." Among the many speakers at the conference are three young people who will also talk about the contribution of social media to the study and commemoration of the Holocaust among the younger generation.
"The audience's initial encounter with 'Eva's History' was kind of a market," recalls Maya Kochavi, 29, "and later it just worked. Using the concept on Instagram, people connected to Eva's story as a real Hungarian girl murdered in the Holocaust."
"Operation Dogo" video // Editing: Roi Sherman
From the distance of time that has passed since Eva's historic rise, Kochavi points to the exciting and significant thing that the venture has brought with it: messages that reach Eva's Instagram page.
"There are millions of messages written in different languages, not all of which I understand. I do not respond to messages because they are personal from the sender to Ava. They write to her: 'I am sorry for what happened to you', I will not forget you ',' You give me strength to continue On ', and more.
"Because we live in a world where there is anti-Semitism, it is gratifying to discover the impact of the project on people from all over the world and a different age cut," Kochavi explains.
"I heard that on Holocaust Remembrance Day, teenagers decide with their friends to watch 'The Story of Eva' together."
University student research papers examine the effect of this project on viewers exposed to the Holocaust story through the media, academic papers have been published on the subject, and organizations and countries are interested in the concept of "Eva's story" as an innovative and beneficial way to tell their history to younger generations.
"In Japan, they expressed an interest in teaching young people in this way the tragedy of dropping atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in World War II," says Kochavi.
How do you explain success?
"It's not enough to see 'Eva's History' to learn about the Holocaust. But it is a way to inform young people and other people who were not interested in the subject, or those who had a hard time learning the history of the Holocaust, in another way. The project met the young audience where it is anyway Has been in it for many years, and teaches him the events of the Holocaust and history in a real way with love, sensitivity and respect.
"In my meetings with groups of children and youth in Israel and around the world, many say that the thing that particularly moved them is the scene where the mother and grandmother give Eva the coat with the yellow badge. The children watch and connect via Instagram to this act, which in the eyes of mother and grandmother is a good deed. "And takes something from Eva's identity and rights. And it's so different from what they learned about the yellow badge in history classes."
"In the house where I grew up as a third-generation Holocaust survivor, every day was Holocaust Day. It was a living and active thing, it was a groundbreaking event," says director Ilail Semel, 30, the daughter of Noam Semel, director of the Habima Theater, and writer and playwright Nava Semel. "L.
" Mother always said that after the last Holocaust survivor dies, we will be left with books, songs, stories, movies, plays and music, art through which we can understand and ask questions about the Holocaust even if the person who was there is not there.
Art is a key to emotion and emotion is a key to thought, "adds Semel.
According to her, third-generation boys and girls have advanced technological means at their disposal, so that with the push of a button and a keyboard, they can reach or create new and exciting content.
"All media is legitimate to tell the story of the Holocaust through. Instagram, Tiktok, Facebook or a movie are the platform that allows us to consume these materials, so I am most in favor of embracing and appreciating projects like 'Eva's History', because it is an important basis for hearing stories and knowing the heritage. By the youth to understand themselves. "
"We are thirsty to get to know these stories up close. A project like 'Living Room Memory' indicates that people need an intimate experience, not just attending a state ceremony or watching the 'Schindler's List.' They want to hear stories about people from their family or friends."
The short play "There are no camps in B" written by Ilail Semel, deals with a trip to Poland for high school students, during which they experience first love.
"I wanted to understand the absurdity of combining life and death. It was the only way to live the Holocaust and talk about it. As I discovered as a high school student, the Warsaw Ghetto rebels were busy during the uprising with love affairs among themselves. It really moved me. I was really crazy about it. If they hear such a story today, they will identify with it and understand something about themselves. "
That is, you reject the fear of contempt.
"What is interesting is the story. A computer game, TV series or ticking is also a person who tells a story about himself. There is no contempt for the value of the Holocaust here. There is a real difficulty in commemorating the Holocaust, and at the same time we must remember that Jewish culture invented memory in the form of the largest format. - The Passover Haggadah, which we read every year even when we gather in Zoom. "
Roi Sherman, 17, is the youngest speaker at the memorial event of the "Generations of the Next" association.
Eleventh grade student in the new media program at the ORT school in Kfar Saba, and active coordinator and participant in the "Connected" project of the "ORT Shapira" network. "As part of the project, each student is connected to a Holocaust survivor and arrives at home. "Most of the Holocaust survivors are individuals, and we serve them as a companion, listening to their personal story and helping them with whatever it takes. It allows me to step out of my comfort zone as a young man living in Israel in 2021, when I hear from a person about the different lives he had."
Sherman is connected to Holocaust survivor David Pressman from Kfar Saba, a widower, father of children and grandfather of grandchildren.
"Until he agreed to tell his story the Corona started. David is a sociable and optimistic person, and the bond between us is easily formed. Since the Corona and the closures, the weekly meetings have been zoomed in, but on Fridays I bring him a Saturday cake I make with my mom."
Witness "Connected" What did you know about the Holocaust?
"Mostly from what we learned in history lessons about Auschwitz and the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. Volunteering in Connected allows a personal acquaintance with the person behind the story, who is not just a narrator. I learn to know where he was, how he survived, what happened to his family. ".
From story to video - Holocaust testimony by Ruth Bauman
The personal encounter with the Holocaust survivors led Sherman to mobilize the technology for the benefit of the cause.
He recorded testimonies of five Holocaust survivors and uploaded their stories as videos to YouTube.
One of the videos he created is inspired by David Leitner from "Operation Dogo," who survived the death march, and as a triumphant image he is photographed eating falafel on the day of Auschwitz's liberation.
These brown balls, which he tasted when he arrived in Israel, reminded him of the rolls he dreamed he would eat in Israel.
Inspired and as a sign of sympathy, Sherman posed for a photo with his friends eating falafel on the day of Auschwitz's release, and uploaded the photos online with an explanation to viewers.
"Leitner's story touched us, and we decided to shoot the video that went up on Tiktok and YouTube and contributes to conveying the message to the youth," Sherman said.
"To convey a significant message in 2021, it is advisable to use social networks and technology. Even those who are not interested, when the content appears on the network there is a chance that it will reach and touch it. When I watched 'Story of Eva' I felt I was watching an ordinary girl living in an unusual period "Instagram has given me a unique view of her and the period in which she lives. I believe that presenting the subject in an innovative way will make most teenagers interested and watching."
Students and Holocaust survivors in Tiktok - ORT Shapira High School
Sherman also does not think it is a contempt of the Holocaust.
"Some say that engaging in Holocaust on Instagram reduces the importance of Holocaust remembrance. They argue that it is illegitimate to take an important and traumatic event in Jewish history and put it on a colorful network that also uploads photos of entertainment and food. They will not read an article in the newspaper, but when a video about the Holocaust appears on a social network, it may open their hearts and connect to these stories. "
"Where will we lead the memory" - the social and digital media in the fight for the memory of the Holocaust.
An online event of the "Generations of the Next" association in collaboration with "Yad Vashem"
International Holocaust Remembrance Day - January 27, 2021 at 18:30.
The conference is free for members of the association.
For others: NIS 30.