Holocaust Memorial Day has been commemorated at a series of major advertising sites across the UK, to mark the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp.
Developed in collaboration between the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust (HDMT) and its agency of record, St Luke’s London, this year’s landmark campaign is focused on “Remembering the past for a better future.”
The overarching creative idea is centred around a photograph of a real-life grandfather and granddaughter, whose hands come together to cradle a candle which provides a universal emblem of peace and remembrance.
This year’s campaign is all the more important as these commemorations mark potentially one of the last milestone opportunities for Auschwitz survivors to come together en masse to tell their stories.
“On the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, we are proud to partner once again with St Luke’s for this amazing outdoor campaign, reaching millions of people around the country,” Holocaust Memorial Day Trust CEO Olivia Marks-Woldman OBE said.
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“As the Holocaust fades further into history, it becomes increasingly challenging for younger generations to connect with a tragedy so distant from their own experiences. This is why St Luke’s campaign, featuring a poignant image of a grandfather and granddaughter cradling a candle, is so powerful – it symbolises the bridge between generations, ensuring that the lessons of the Holocaust endure and are never forgotten. We hope that viewers will be inspired to be torchbearers too, lighting the darkness for a better future.”
With images shot pro bono by portrait photographer James Day, the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust worked with media owners JCDecaux and Ocean Outdoor to maximise national coverage.
As with every year, the campaign not only commemorates the six million Jews who were murdered in the Holocaust, but also remembers those who lost their lives in more recent genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia, Sudan and Kurdistan.
St Luke’s MD Ed Palmer added: “We’re honoured to play a part in Holocaust Memorial Day, especially in this important 80th anniversary year. Now more than ever, we hope the message ‘for a better future’ prompts reflection on the Holocaust and other genocides of the past, as well as hope for a better future.”
