TikTok star Montana Tucker is usually known for her light-hearted content showcasing her singing and dancing abilities. But, she had recently decided to focus on a more important topic, launching a series about the Holocaust on the social media platform.
According to the U.S.-based weekly People magazine, the 29-year-old American influencer has called the experience of filming the show, titled How To: Never Forget and which follows her visit to Poland, as "the hardest week of my life."
The 10-part series launched on October 24 and follows Tucker's discovery of the events surrounding the Holocaust and her personal connection to it. Specifically, how some of her relatives perished at the Belzec concentration camp.
The series was produced by Israel Shachter and Rachel Kastner with SoulShop Studios, a media company that produces original content dealing with issues of faith and seeks to "amplify voices that remind us that faith has always been at the forefront of culture."
As part of her trip to Poland, Tucker visited Oskar Schindler's Factory and the concentration camps of Auschwitz and Belzec. Tucker said she believes it is incumbent upon her to educate people about the atrocities, since awareness about the issue among Americans is dwindling.
"I think the main goal was to educate Gen-Z, because that's the generation that doesn't know as much about it," she told People. "But I think it's also going to, hopefully, change people's perspectives as well."
The show is being released as antisemitic incidents in the United States are skyrocketing, reached a new height in 2021, with an average of about seven anti-Jewish crimes a day. Special attention has been given to the issue recently, as celebrities became increasingly involved in the disturbing trend, including rapper Kanye West and NBA superstar Kyrie Irving.
Only about 45% of Americans are aware that more than six million Jews perished in the Holocaust, and less than half all of U.S states mandate teaching about the Holocaust in the public school system.
Tucker said that through her social media platform, she can help resonate a powerful message. "If I can somehow be a slight bit of education for them, and they watch my videos already, they might actually listen to me."
Episodes began dropping daily on her TikTok and Instagram pages and will conclude on November 9, marking the anniversary of Kristallnacht or the Night of Broken Glass - a pogrom against Jews carried out by the Nazi Party.
Not being content with her social media venture, Tucker said there is plenty of footage that wasn't used in the series, and that she hopes to produce a full-length movie about her experiences at some point in the future, aiming to raise awareness about xenophobia in general.