Yad Vashem: ‘By sharing their stories, we are ensuring that they will never be forgotten.’
By JNS
To mark Holocaust Remembrance Day, Yad Vashem has announced the launch of a “Who Is Your Holocaust Hero?” campaign, encouraging the public to create and post to social media short videos explaining their personal connections with survivors.
The digital project encapsulates Yad Vashem’s core mission of preserving the memory of the Holocaust.
“This unique campaign comes at a particularly critical juncture,” said Yad Vashem chairman Dani Dayan. “As the eyewitness generation fades away, we are left with an irreplaceable void. By sharing their stories, we are ensuring that they will never be forgotten. By sharing and creating a community of remembrance on social media we can amplify their voices, garnering global attention.”
Yad Vashem has invited distinguished individuals from various walks of life to become Ambassadors of Holocaust Memory and record their own videos introducing their personal Holocaust heroes.
Teaming up with Hollywood liaison Lana Melman, author of “Artists Under Fire,” Yad Vashem has garnered support from influential figures, including producer Ben Silverman, director Jeff Melman, actors Patricia Heaton, James Maslow and Mark Pellegrino, and Gene Simmons. Participants also include political figures such as Lord Eric Pickles, professor Alan Dershowitz, President of the Claims Conference Gideon Taylor, Canadian MP Anthony Housefather and British MP Bob Blackman.
Social media influencers like Montana Tucker and Dov Forman, BBC Broadcast journalist John Ware and celebrity chef Eitan Bernath have also lent their endorsement to this initiative.
“We are living in a time of anti-Jewish hate not seen since Nazi Germany” said author and CEO of Liberate Art, Lana Melman. “The phrase ‘Never Again’ is not a slogan, it is a vow—a promise humankind made to God and each other after the inhumanity and horrors of the Holocaust. By sharing the stories of Holocaust Heroes, we are reminded that none of us can be silent about where this road leads us. We have a right to be safe and Jewish.”
Israel marks Holocaust Remembrance Day beginning Sunday at sundown.