Eva Stories Project Brings a Real-Life Holocaust Diary to Instagram

Imagine what would have happened if those living through the Holocaust had access to smartphones, social media, and could have documented what what going. This was the starting point for ‘Eva’s Stories’ – a unique new Instagram series that, over a period of 24 hours, will issue a new story every 30 minutes documenting the life of Eva Haiman. 

When the Nazis invaded Hungary in 1944, Eva Heiman was a 13-year-old girl living in the town of Nagyvarad. She began to write a diary on her birthday, February 13th 1944 and stopped on May 30th 1944 – just three months later and three days before she was deported by train to Auschwitz, where she died.

75 years later, her story has been adapted into a special film project produced and created by hi-tech entrepreneur Matti Kohavi and his daughter Maya, who invested millions of dollars in the project. The pair adapted Eva's personal diary into a screenplay and together with a team of 400 production people, actors and extras, they reconstructed Eva’s life and filmed it in Lviv Ukraine.

"We took the diary and actually translated it into a full 70-minute film," Mati Kochavi explains. "It is one of the biggest projects that Instagram has ever done. We asked ourselves what would happen if Eva, instead of a pen and paper for writing a diary, had a smartphone and Instagram. That’s when we decided to shoot the entire film with a smartphone or a camera that simulates the smartphone, with the girl always holding the camera, and the entire film being shot from her perspective".

Kochavi adds that "the idea was to build the environment in which Eva lived and supposedly photographed what she was sending to her friends."

Eva’s story will be recounted on the special Instagram page set up in her memory for Holocaust Memorial Day. During 24 hours, her life will be brought to life through still images, text passages and stories that will let the audience bear witness to events that took place during the last months of her life - from getting to know her family and friends, through to the Nazi invasion of her city, the uprooting from the house, move to the ghetto, violence and torture she survived, right up to her boarding the train to Auschwitz.

Maya Kochavi said: "The stories will turn Eva from a nameless face into a colorful, lifelike and relevant figure that tells about of her life and what’s happening in it in much the same way millions of people around the world today document their everyday lives".

Working with Leo Burnett Israel to get the word out, the campaign launched with billboards and a teaser trailer video “What if a girl during the holocaust had Instagram?” and influencer activation strategy. Within hours it sparked a nationwide conversation and @eva.stories Instagram page became the first commercial Instagram page in Israel to organically gather over 120,000 followers in a week. While over 1,000 influencers and Israeli celebrities have already posted about Eva’s Stories, the real win so far is to see the number of youngsters who have signed up to the page and are for the first time discussing Holocaust Day ahead of time.

On May 1st, posts will appear every 30 minutes until 10:00 AM on May 2nd, the time at which the siren will sound and people all over Israel will stand still for a one minute of silent remembrance. This is also the time Eva's last story will air, right before she was transported to Auschwitz.

To follow the stories on Instagram: @eva.stories