A group of technical-savvy Israeli students have set up a social media campaign based on the in-progress Euro 2012 football championship in Poland and the Ukraine to raise awareness of the Holocaust.
Inspired by the host cities, the students from the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya have established a multi-forum campaign, through a website, smartphone applications, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts, to convey the histories of the Jewish communities that perished there during WWII.
Following in the footsteps of the efforts of individual national football teams, many of whom visited Auschwitz concentration camp in the lead-up to the tournament, the founders of the initiative say it is designed purely as an educational tool to use the lessons of history to “guide you to be better people in the future”.
Each town is attributed a separate section on the website, detailing the origins of the Jewish community there and the impact of the Nazi occupation on it leading to today.
Law student and campaign devisor Omri Ariav is frank about the somewhat exploitative nature of the campaign, admitting “we’re basically riding Euro 2012. Whilst he has no qualms that the high-profile nature of the tournament bringing his project much-need publicity, he insisted his aim is not destroy the atmosphere of the four-yearly event, rather to highlight the unique position participants enjoy as free men and the platform they have to promote tolerance and liberality.
National teams to have conducted high-profile visits to Auschwitz include England, Italy, Germany and the Netherlands. England’s visit, which followed a team address by two Holocaust survivors last month, was being planned by the English Football Association (FA) in conjunction with the Holocaust Education Trust (HET), who will then produce a DVD of the visit featuring players’ thoughts on “why combating prejudice today matters to them”.