Holocaust survivors, educators, leaders, and historians from around the world will kick off Liberation75, marking 75 years of liberation from the Holocaust, at 12 p.m. eastern time on Tuesday by sharing the #ItStartedWithWords digital campaign, created by the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany (Claims Conference) and Holocaust survivors from around the world.
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#ItStartedWithWords is a digital Holocaust education campaign posting weekly video posts from Holocaust survivors (which already have garnered nearly 4 million views on Facebook) from across the world.
Each video features a survivor telling of the moments that led up to the Holocaust; a period of time when they could not have predicted the ease with which their long-time neighbors, teachers, classmates, and colleagues would turn on them, before words of hate turned to acts of violence.
Over the course of five days, beginning Tuesday, Liberation75 will bring together thousands of people from around the world committed to fighting antisemitism and racism, and continuing Holocaust education and remembrance. Liberation75 will kick off by sharing the #ItStartedWithWords campaign video. The entire event is virtual and registration is free.
Claims Conference President Gideon Taylor said, "The survivors we work with are excited and gratified by the extraordinary attention their #ItStartedWithWords videos have been receiving. Their dedication to this work is an inspiration to all of us. We are thrilled to be a part of the kick-off of Liberation75, where the voices of Holocaust survivors will be elevated further during a global moment of simultaneous sharing of their videos over social media platforms."
In the most recent videos posted for this campaign, we learn about Ruth Herzberg Sirkes and her family, who encountered signs that read, "Jews, Do Not Sit" on the park benches where they had previously found refuge; we hear from Roman Kent who recalls being taunted by children who yelled "Dirty Jews!" at him while he was on his way to school; and how Shraga Milstein and his father reacted as they endured jeers while they walked down the street where they lived.
The campaign video, which will be shared globally at 12 p.m. EST on Tuesday, already has over 3 million views.
Nearly 50 museums and institutions from around the world are participating in the #ItStartedWithWords campaign. These include the United Nations; the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM); Yad Vashem; the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA); Fondation Pour La Memoire De La Shoah; the Anne Frank House, Netherlands; UNESCO; the Memorial of the Murdered Jews of Europe, Berlin; the Anne Frank Center, Argentina; the Montreal Holocaust Museum; Holocaust Educational Trust of the UK; the Georgia Commission on the Holocaust; Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center; the Museum of Jewish Heritage; POLIN, Museum of the History of Polish Jews, Warsaw and many more.
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