TikToker Montana Tucker’s Personal Holocaust Connection Inspires Her ‘How To: Never Forget’ Series

“Extra’s” Rachel Lindsay spoke with Tucker at the Holocaust Museum L.A., where she discussed her personal connection to the Holocaust and what led her to creating the 10-part series.

While Tucker is known for her fun dance videos, Tucker wanted to bring awareness of the Holocaust to the younger generation in a unique way.

She stressed, “It’s very different from any Holocaust documentary or educational piece that’s ever been out there. It was made solely for social media… Gen Z and the younger generation, they’re focusing all their time and energy into social media… we knew that they weren’t going to sit there and watch a five-minute video, so we were like, ‘Let’s do these two-minute snippets that they can send to their friends.’ It’s an easy watch. They can watch whenever they have a chance.”

Montana also aimed to highlight the non-Jewish people who “risked their lives” during the Holocaust. She said, “That’s why we dedicated a whole episode to the different Polish people… I think it’s an important message for what’s going on in the world now, just because it doesn’t have to do with you, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t stand up and say something.”

Tucker’s grandparents, who survived the genocide, inspired her to create the series.

She explained, “I’ve been extremely close to my grandparents my entire life. My [grandpa] passed away at 97… three years ago. After he passed, I became more and more invested in their stories… I watched their testimonials, and I was like, ‘I need to do something with this.’”

Montana then took a trip to Poland with her mom and a film crew. She shared, “I think going with her was more powerful than I could have imagined… When I stood in the spot that my grandma last saw her mother, to stand there with my mother, was just extremely depressing, but extremely powerful.”

Tucker has received positive responses to her series. She commented, “I’ve had mothers watching it with their mothers and their children. I’ve had it reach all generations which is so powerful.”

The Jewish community has also praised Montana for speaking up, while non-Jewish people have thanked her for educating them.

She emphasized, “For me, I just want to educate… Some people just aren’t educated about it, generally don’t know. The statistic that people don’t know that the Holocaust existed or don’t know about the Holocaust… Kids aren’t even being taught it in schools. It’s not even a law in many states.”