Why images of Holocaust survivors were projected onto NYC landmarks on Saturday night

(New York Jewish Week) – Larger-than-life images of Holocaust survivors and their stories were projected on two dozen New York City landmarks and building facades on Saturday night in honor of International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Gillian Laub, the acclaimed Jewish photographer, took many of the pictures of the survivors at a Nov. 1 event at the Museum of Jewish Heritage, when more than 200 Holocaust survivors gathered to raise awareness for Israeli hostages kidnapped by Hamas into Gaza.

The images were projected on the Williamsburg and Brooklyn Bridges and the Whitney Museum, as well as several other locations across Brooklyn and Manhattan.

In addition to raising awareness for International Holocaust Remembrance Day, which is marked on the Jan. 27 anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, the campaign is also the launch of “Live2Tell,” a digital project documenting the world’s remaining Holocaust survivors through photography, video and first-person interviews. The project is being produced by Jewish actress and comedian Amy Schumer and digital storyteller Kira Pollack.

Laub created the project in response to “the recent, dramatic rise in antisemitism in the U.S. and around the world,” as well as in response to the declining number of survivors around the world, according to a press release. Today, there are some 245,000 living survivors, according to a recent demographics report from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.

The project aims to “elevate consciousness and spark conversation about the parallels between past and present,” the press release added. In addition to the projections, the initiative will share interviews, photos and videos of Holocaust survivors on social media and its website. 

“With the painful endurance of antisemitism throughout history, survivor stories need to be shared and passed down from generation to generation,” Laub said. “Hoping to foster connection and understanding, Live2Tell will help preserve survivor stories and amplify their voices through a contemporary lens. I’m extremely grateful to all the survivors for once again bearing witness and to everyone who has contributed to elevating the consciousness about the atrocities faced by the Jewish people, past and present.”

According to a report in The New York Times, the project was designed to minimize the chance of vandalism and did not seek a permit for its projections.

For now, the Live2Tell project has only documented the testimonies and photos of survivors in New York City. But Laub, who lives in New York, intends to release a second phase of the project in Israel, where nearly half of the world’s remaining Holocaust survivors live, later this year.

“I always tell people — especially kids — us survivors won’t be around much longer,” Maritza Shelley, a 96-year-old Holocaust survivor, said about participating in the project. “And when we go, all the witnesses will be gone. So I make them my witnesses. I say: ‘The story I’m telling you, you must remember because you are the ones who can carry it on.’”