With the excuse of a documentary, on the occasion of the Holocaust Remembrance day we invited some people in a tattoo shop and proposed them one they couldn’t expect: the identification number of one of the last Auschwitz survivors, Nedo Fiano.

Then we told them his story: having dedicated his life to remembering that horror to let us know about it, Nedo is now losing his memory; thus, it is up to us to remember for him.

The video has moved the country, inviting the audience to visit a dedicated website named after the number tattooed on Nedo’s arm: a5405.com

Here, the users had the chance to keep Nedo’s memory alive interpreting his pieces of memory as if they were their own. Thanks to people of every age, race and religion a5405.com has become an actual virtual archive of Nedo’s memory, preserving and keeping it ready for the future generations.

With the excuse of shooting a documentary we involved a number of people in a stunt, set in a tattoo shop. We proposed them an unexpected tattoo: Nedo Fiano’s identification number in Auschwitz. Their shocked, moved reactions to Nedo’s story have become a video which was posted by the associations Sons of Shoah and CEDEC on their social channels on the Holocaust Remembrance day. The video ended with the invitation to keep Nedo’s memory alive by visiting the dedicated site a5405.com

The film went viral over Italian social networks and reached all the country’s major newspapers and TVs. And, being inspired by the action of celebrities and influencers as well, a huge number of people have chosen to keep Nedo’s memory alive by interpreting his pieces of memory as if they were their own on a5405.com, in order to preserve not just his memory, but that of humankind.

The project’s effect was huge.

On a day that was already filled up with commemorative events, it captured the attention of the whole country with zero investment on media.

It went viral in a few hours, being shared millions of times on social networks.

Magazines like GQ, Vanity Fair, SkyNews, along with the major national newspapers like La Repubblica and La Stampa have dedicated dossiers and articles to the project, which ended up involving 140+ countries and millions of people.

Many have decided to actively participate, interpreting Nedo’s memories with video and audio recordings on a5405.com.

Among them were also many national and international celebrities, like Roberto Benigni, director and main actor of “Life is beautiful”, who had never endorsed any advertising, nor nonprofit initiative before.

Moreover, for its effectiveness in telling the Holocaust tragedy through the new media, the website has become teaching material in Italian schools and universities.

To understand the tragedy of the Shoah you need to put yourself in the shoes of those who have experienced it. And what is stronger and more direct than finding yourself in a tattoo shop with an Auschwitz deportee's identification number on your forearm?

Through this stunt we told the story of Nedo Fiano, one of the last Auschwitz survivors who is now losing his memory. We asked directly to Italians to keep it alive, visiting a dedicated website and interpreting his memories as if they were their own. Many “have become Nedo" keeping a precious memory for humankind.

In a world in the grip of populism, fanaticism and racial hatred, it is crucial to keep the Shoah memory alive among everybody and pass it on to the new generations.

Unfortunately, nothing like the very words of those who have experienced it first-hand can convey the enormity of that tragedy. Over the years, though, many direct witnesses have passed away and one of the last survivors, Nedo Fiano, is losing his memory. This fact has actually become a chance to involve millions of people during the Holocaust Remembrance day; not only raising awareness on such an important matter by telling Nedo’s story, but giving them an active part in preserving and perpetuating the memory of that horror, too. On a dedicated website, in fact, many people of every age, gender and religion have interpreted Nedo’s pieces of memory, keeping it alive and preserving it for the future generations.

Situation:

Today, the direct witnesses of the Holocaust are fewer and fewer. And one of the last, Nedo Fiano, a man who has dedicated his whole life to remembering that horror, is now losing his memory.

The Brief

CEDEC Foundation and Sons of the Shoah association, who have always taken care of valuing and perpetuating the Shoah’s memory, asked us to carry out a project for the International Holocaust Remembrance day, which shouldn’t be a simple commemoration, but instead an actual invitation to the audience to carry forward the message of the Holocaust memory to the future generations.

Objectives

To spread the message of the importance of the Shoah memory everywhere, especially among the new generations, with an effective but respectful language, given the enormity of this tragedy.