It’s a huge honour to be included in the TIME100 Creators list, alongside some of the most recognisable names on the internet – people who’ve gone viral for everything from dance and music to comedy and food. The internet has become a space for all kinds of entertaining, moving, inspiring, and sometimes troubling content. But it has also become a place for something profoundly important: education.
What began as a lockdown project with my great-grandmother, sharing her Holocaust testimony on TikTok, has grown into something far greater than I could ever have imagined. Social media has allowed us – and now countless others – to educate a whole new generation about the Holocaust in ways that are accessible, engaging, and urgently needed in today’s world. With rising antisemitism and the distortion of history, this work feels more important than ever. I’m deeply humbled that TIME has recognised the small part I’ve played in this wider effort – one that spans generations and is bigger than any one person or platform.
My great-grandmother, Lily Ebert, was a survivor of Auschwitz. She made a promise to herself in Auschwitz that, if she survived, she would tell the world what happened. That promise became her life’s mission – and, for a time, mine as well. During the pandemic, when we were stuck at home together, I suggested we try TikTok. She laughed and said she wouldn’t dance – but she would talk. To our surprise, millions of people around the world listened.
Together we wrote Lily’s Promise, a Sunday Times and New York Times bestseller that tells her story of survival and resilience. We spoke in schools and parliaments, and met young people all over the world who said they’d never understood or learned about the Holocaust before hearing it from our social media accounts and through my great grandmother's testimony.
I’ve always loved history – not just learning it, but sharing it. That’s why I chose to study Central and East European History and Jewish Studies at UCL SSEES. It’s been the perfect place to deepen my understanding of the past, especially the contexts that shaped my own family’s story. The department has challenged me intellectually and given me the academic foundation to continue this work with a better historical grounding.
I’m proud to be a student at UCL and SSEES – and grateful every day to learn at this institution and in turn for the opportunity to bring history to new audiences in ways that feel meaningful, relevant, and, I hope, lasting.