HOLOCAUST MEMORY ON INSTAGRAM: VISUAL STRATEGIES OF OFFICIAL MEMORIAL ACCOUNTS IN REPRESENTING TRAUMA

Abstract

The article examines how, between 2018 and 2024, the official Instagram ac-counts of Holocaust memorial institutions (@auschwitzmemorial, @yadvashem, @holocaustmuseum) create visual narratives and communicate historical trau-ma within the platform logic of social media. The study combines qualitative analysis of content types and visual composition with an algorithmic approach: automatic image description (BLIP-2), text-to-vector embeddings (e5), k-means clustering, and audience engagement analysis. The dataset includes 1,500 posts (over 1,300 photos) from the three institutions. Four main categories were iden-tified across all accounts: Prisoners & Historical Portraits; Personal Belongings & Artifacts; Buildings & Infrastructure; Visitors & Ceremonies.

The results show that images of people – such as portraits of victims, survi-vors, and participants in commemorative ceremonies – receive the highest levels of engagement, together with photographs of memorial sites and camp infrastructure. At the same time, the intensity of audience response differs between institutions: for instance, «Buildings & Infrastructure» posts at @ holocaustmuseum achieved very high engagement, while similar content at @yadvashem remained comparatively low. These differences highlight how each institution adapts its communication strategy to its mission, audience, and cultural context.

Overall, the findings indicate that Instagram functions as an institutionally managed space of digital memory, where archival accuracy, ethical represen-tation of traumatic experiences, and careful visual design are combined to reach wide audiences. When used in this way, the platform can contribute to preserving Holocaust memory, countering historical distortion, and resisting the spread of antisemitism and hate speech in the digital environment.