Jewish News and 8original win global social media award for Holocaust project

Jewish News has won a Global Social Media Award alongside our partner 8original for a project that brought the voices of Holocaust survivors to millions of football fans globally.

The initiative – in collaboration with Holocaust Memorial Day and the Football Association and sponsored by Dangoor Education – saw football legends from Arsenal, Spurs, Chelsea, Brighton and West Ham interview survivors of the Nazis. They were joined by youngsters linked to the teams for the project, which marked the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz in January.

JN and each of the clubs amplified the content across all major social media platforms, attracting more than 2.2m views – but the award announced today was specially for best use of Instagram.

“They successfully harnessed Instagram to amplify Holocaust survivor stories in a way that powerfully resonated with football fans,” said the judges. “This impactful campaign delivered an important message with authenticity and strength. The impressive organic reach and engagement metrics demonstrated the effectiveness of their strategy, while collaboration with Premier |League clubs added credibility and amplified the campaign’s impact.”

Expressing his pride at the honour, 8original founder Joel Macader said: “We proved that social media, when used with heart and purpose, can amplify the voices of Holocaust survivors in ways that genuinely move people, shift perspectives, and bring generations together. This award is a testament to Justin Cohen’s incredible ingenuity, to Josh Gaventa’s expertise and dedication to make the project what it was and to 8original’s wider team for bringing it all to life.”

Josh Gaventa, Account Manager at 8original and Head of Social Media at JN, said: “This campaign showed how, at its best, social media can honour memory, challenge indifference, and bring people together across generations and communities to see one another more deeply.”

Justin Cohen, who conceived the initiative, said: “There’s no shortage of news about the harms caused by social media but this project was a reminder of its power for good too. Thank you to 8original and all our partners without whom this wouldn’t have been possible and especially to the inspirational survivors who continue to travel up and down the country to relay the message of where hate can lead, embracing new technologies as they do so.”

Arsenal’s World Cup winner Per Mertesacker met Belsen survivor Alfred Garwood at the Emirates and Janine Webber, who was a hidden child in Poland during the war, spoke to Lioness and Chelsea legend Katie Chapman at Stamford Bridge last week. At Wembley, John Hadju, who was liberated from the Budapest ghetto, sat down with former Tottenham defender Ledley King and West Ham’s Carlton Cole heard the powerful testimony of Dr Martin Stern, who was taken to a concentration camp aged just five. Brighton’s Glenn Murray heard from Joan Salter how she and her mother avoided capture just a day after being smuggled out of Paris in a laundry van when warned their names were on the list for the first deportation of women and girls.

HMDT chief executive Olivia Marks-Woldman said: “This award is amazing! It all started with a simple belief: Holocaust survivors’ testimonies hold lessons we all need to hear. Bringing together survivors and football legends was hugely special. Their conversations showed us just how powerful human connection can be; simple chats bridging generations and helping new audiences understand why the systematic murder of six million Jews must never be forgotten. To our dear survivors, thank you, for so generously sharing your powerful testimonies. And to the Premier League clubs and our friends at Jewish News, your passion and dedication made it possible to reach – and really connect with –  an extraordinary 2.2 million people.”