On the occasion of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, the World Zionist Organization (WZO) launched the 6 Million Followers Project - 6 M Followers - on Instagram #6MFollowers.
Against the background of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, the Department for Holocaust Commemoration at the World Zionist Organization has launched a campaign where a dedicated Instagram account has been set up that will follow six famous Holocaust survivors with Instagram accounts and encourage people from all over the world to follow the lives of Holocaust survivors.
The campaign aims to reach six million followers by the next International Holocaust Remembrance Day in 2023.
"We transfer a large part of our activities to the social media in order to pass on information to the younger generation. A large amount of information they receive is via social media," said Tova Dorfman, Deputy Chair of the World Zionist Organization and head of its Department for Israel and Holocaust Commemoration Worldwide.
"The world has learned of the Holocaust as a historical event but does not fully know the details, and the information in its possession is mostly 'dry' information from the past. Despite the great loss Holocaust survivors have experienced, theirs is a story that the younger generation needs to know, and as long as possible, it should be done through and with the Holocaust survivors who still remain with us. Our Holocaust commemoration activities are geared to reach different target audiences."
As part of the project, the Department for Holocaust Commemoration, headed by Tova Dorfman, sent letters to six Holocaust survivors in order to connect them to the project, while at the same time opening an Instagram account that shares content that survivors upload from their daily lives, exposing Instagram followers to the Holocaust survivors' lives.
The survivors who will be highlighted on the new Instagram Account - called '6 Million Followers' (6MFollowers) - are Dr. Ruth Westheimer, Gideon Lev, Lily Ebert, Dr. Edith Eger, Lucy Lipiner, and Sammy Steinman.
The project in question is another move in the context of a growing effort to commemorate the Holocaust among the younger generation through social media.The transition of the younger generation to social media such as Instagram, TikTok, Spotify, YouTube, etc. causes government bodies to understand that in order to transmit information to youth, one must speak their language and create a digital presence as well.