Every year, the State of Israel and Jewish communities across the globe commemorate the six million Jews who were murdered in the Holocaust, for a duration of twenty-four hours.

Each year, I try to learn more about the Holocaust through first hand testimonials, given by the last generation of Holocaust survivors. This year, however, instead of hearing another compelling survival story, I learned about a different kind of story — I learned about Eva’s story through a truly unexpected platform — I learned about Eva’s story through Instagram.

And you should too.

An Unjustified Summary of Eva’s Story

Her name was Eva Heyman and she turned thirteen in 1944. She loved to dance, eat ice cream, and hang out with her best friend, Annie. She had a crush on a boy from school named, Pista Vadas and dreamed of becoming a news photographer when she got older.

But Eva never got older. Eva Heyman was eventually murdered in the Auschwitz gas chambers.

Auschwitz-Birkenau, Poland (Photo by: Keren)

Eva was murdered after being shoved into a train cart with 80 other people, and forced to stand for the entire four day journey to the camps.

Auschwitz-Birkenau, Poland (Photo by: Keren)

Eva was murdered after being separated from her entire family, without the opportunity to say goodbye.

Auschwitz-Birkenau, Poland (Photo by: Keren)

Eva was murdered after her hair was shaved off, and her clothes violently taken from her.

Eva was murdered after she had her identity replaced with a number that was tattooed on her arm.

Eva was murdered after having watched her best friend die in her arms.

Eva was murdered after she was all alone in the world, with no one to tell her story — Until today.

Until Instagram was used to tell her story, and attempted to make her dream of becoming a famous news photographer, come true.

Eva Heyman, Photo Taken from The Washington Post

The Power of Social Media and Instagram

I’ve never heard of Eva Heyman before, and probably wouldn’t have heard about her story if not for Mati and Maya Kochavi. This groundbreaking piece of art truly shows us that technology and social media can be used for the greater good.

Though the project was initially criticized for being disrespectful and disgraceful to the Holocaust (by myself included), the final product proved that this extraordinary method of storytelling may be the best way to preserve our history, and expose the younger generations to past atrocities in a way that isn’t too graphic/inappropriate, but also, in a manner that is more relatable to them.

As of today (May 2nd, 2019), and in less than 24 hours, the story has had over 120 million views, and the account gained nearly 1 million followers. Not only did this project attempt to make Eva’s dream come true, but it also promised that Eva’s story will be remembered for many generations to come.