Today Gideon Taylor, President of the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany (Claims Conference) announced a new collaboration with social media influencer, Montana Tucker to raise awareness about the continuing rise in antisemitism. With the growing prevalence of hate speech, Holocaust denial and distortion on social media, the Claims Conference is launching an innovative strategy to educate future generations on the horrors and lessons of the Holocaust tailored to different social media platforms and audiences.
Gideon Taylor, President of the Claims Conference said, “Many social media influencers have platforms and audiences we typically are not reaching with traditional Holocaust education campaigns. Holocaust education for the future needs to meet a younger generation where they are, and we need to utilize the means of communication that they use. We started discussions with Montana months ago to help her with her journey and foster her learning that she will share across her platforms bringing this message to a wider audience through social media. Those who were murdered and those who survived deserve to have their stories told. Their struggles, triumphs and lessons are too important to be relegated to irrelevancy.”
Funded by the Claims Conference, Montana Tucker has launched a series of videos on her Instagram page chronicling her journey through Poland to Auschwitz as she retraces the steps of her great grandparents. Bother her grandmother and grandfather are Holocaust survivors, making the trip personal and raw. The incredibly intimate series endeavors to raise awareness about the importance of Holocaust education in the battle against antisemitism.
Dan Luxenberg, CEO of SoulShop, the producers of the Montana Tucker series, said, “We are so proud to partner with the Claims Conference to help Montana discover her family Holocaust history in Auschwitz. The kind of hatred that led to the Holocaust didn’t start in Auschwitz – it started with words of hate. Survivors today shouldn’t have to witness the antisemitism happening around us, which is why this project is so vital. With the launch of our first episode, we’ve already reached over one million people and we hope the world continues to share Montana’s journey.”
For decades, the Claims Conference has been a funder of Holocaust education through traditional means such as archival preservation and accessibility, teacher training and supporting major institutions like Yad Vashem — of which the Claims Conference was a founding partner — the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) and museums around the world. Ensuring traditional partners is essential; however, recent Claims Conference Holocaust Knowledge and Awareness surveys, showed a major crisis with younger generations. To combat the lack of knowledge, the Claims Conference will take the revolutionary step over the course of the next few months and years of partnering with TikTok, Instagram and Facebook influencers in an effort to the wider audience of future generations. These new initiatives, though unprecedented for the Claims Conference, are needed in order to reach younger generations.
Greg Schneider, Executive Vice President of the Claims Conference said, “Everyday survivors tell me that they are worried their stories will be lost. Montana is an excellent example of why the next generation is so critical. We must work to educate future generations and provide platforms for them to tell their families’ stories of the Holocaust. This is how we raise awareness. This is how we ensure the stories of survivors are never forgotten. Over the coming months and years, the Claims Conference will continue new initiatives because we owe a debt to Holocaust survivors.”