Israeli Instagram Holocaust series wins Webbys
‘Eva.Stories’ snags 2 ‘internet Oscars’ for its unique storytelling and use of social media
Jessica Steinberg, The Times of Israel's culture and lifestyles editor, covers the Sabra scene from south to north and back to the center
Instagram story “Eva.Stories,” a series of 70 Instagram stories that chronicle the Holocaust-era tragedy of Eva Heyman, a teenager in Nazi-era Hungary, won two 2020 Webby Awards, considered the Oscars of the internet.
“Eva.Stories,” which won a Webby for Best Use of Stories (alongside beloved comedy show “Saturday Night Live”) and another Webby for Best Campaigns on Social Media, was created by tech billionaire Mati Kochavi and his daughter, Maya.
“The Israeli nation made the story of Eva in that they adopted her, loved her and followed her,” said Mati and Maya Kochavi in a statement. “After them, came millions of viewers around the world.”
The Kochavis said the Webby win offered another opportunity for the public to pay attention to Eva, a 13-year-old girl who suffered and was murdered in the Auschwitz concentration camp because she was a Jewish girl.
The two embarked on the project to help spread the memory of the Holocaust among the younger generation, and figured the best place to do that was on Instagram.
They read dozens of diaries before deciding on Heyman, the kind of girl that modern kids could connect to, Maya Kochavi said last year ahead of Israel’s annual Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Heyman was one of approximately 430,000 Hungarian Jews who were deported to Nazi concentration camps between May 15 and July 9, 1944.
The Instagram installments of Heyman’s story appeared as if Heyman had owned a smartphone during World War II and was using Instagram to broadcast her life updates. They were created with real actors and have a stylized, Hollywood feel to them.
The series has won other awards, and the “Eva.Stories” Instagram account has 1.6 million followers.
