To mark both the 80th anniversary of the Holocaust and the 25th anniversary of The History Channel, Dentsu Creative Iberia has unveiled a haunting campaign that bridges past atrocities with today’s unsettling rise in hate and extremism. At a time when divisive rhetoric resurfaces online and at the ballot box, this campaign uses the voices—and scars—of Holocaust survivors to send a clear message: history is not behind us.
At the heart of the campaign lies a chilling symbol—the tattooed numbers etched on the arms of those who survived Nazi concentration camps. This time, those numbers serve a different purpose: to highlight modern statistics that are no less disturbing. Among them:
- 33,963 hate crimes based on race recorded in Germany in 2024
- 1,856 likes on a social media comment reading “We miss you, Hitler”
- 162 neo-Nazi rallies organized in just six months
These contemporary numbers are juxtaposed with the survivor tattoos, forging a shocking parallel between past horrors and today’s digital and political violence. In an age overwhelmed by visual content, the campaign disrupts the noise with a message that stops us in our tracks: "These numbers? They’ve existed before. They still exist. And here’s the proof—on the skin of those who endured them."
The campaign transforms memory into a warning system. Rather than teaching history through textbooks, it brings it into our everyday lives—into our social media feeds, our streets, our conversations.
This isn’t a campaign in the traditional sense. It doesn’t sell a product or promote a lifestyle. It doesn’t aim to dazzle with glamour or viral hooks. Instead, it uses the very tools of advertising to confront us with reality. And that’s precisely what gives it such striking power.
With this project, The History Channel reaffirms its educational and social mission. Its dual milestone—25 years of programming and 80 years since the Holocaust—becomes an opportunity to do more than commemorate. In collaboration with Dentsu Creative Iberia, the channel transforms remembrance into action, into vigilance, into a demand for collective responsibility.
Rolled out across TV, print, and public spaces, the campaign doesn’t seek noise for noise’s sake. It aims to return to the facts in a time overwhelmed by misinformation and revisionism. Because today, the phrase "never again" needs more than repetition—it needs proof, voices, and impact.
Across Europe, the normalization of racist, antisemitic, and conspiracist discourse continues to gain ground. Online hate surges. Certain political parties, once on the fringe, now openly nod to dangerous ideologies. In this context, the campaign becomes more than timely—it becomes essential.
By placing Holocaust survivors at its center, Dentsu goes beyond making a powerful creative statement. It gives memory a face, a voice, and a body. It reminds us that advertising can—and should—carry civic weight. It can serve as a cultural compass, pointing us not toward what’s trending, but toward what must never be forgotten.
