We sat down with Montana to hear more about her docuseries, “How To: Never Forget.”
If you're on Instagram or TikTok, there's a good chance you've seen snippets of Montana Tucker's short form docuseries, "How to: Never Forget."
We sat down with the Instagram superstar to hear more about how she's using her platform to share her family's story and educate her followers on the holocaust.
In a career spanning more than two decades (yup, she got her start as a performer at just 8-years-old), Montana has ventured into a number of different avenues.
From dancing, to acting and modeling, to singing and dominating social media, she shares that she's tried her hand at more things than she ever anticipated.
In light of all that, she's comfortable with pivoting – but one thing she didn't anticipate was going into documentaries.
"Two years ago, if you'd asked me if I knew this would be part of my path, I would have said no! But here I am, and I couldn't be more passionate and excited about it."
So, how did it come about?
"My friend, Israel Shachter, had heard my grandparent's story, and about a year and a half ago, he asked if I'd ever been to Poland. I said no, and he said he'd make it happen one day."
Soon after, they got to planning the trip – but when Israel introduced her to another producer friend, what was initially planned as a trip for Monana and her mom became an opportunity.
"We thought, why not turn this into a short-form educational series? Nowadays, kids don't want to watch full-length documentaries, and they're always on social media – let's find a way to get their attention."
The next thing Montana knew, it was June, and she and her mom were about to take the most important trip of their lives.
Montana reveals that prior to her trip, she watched every holocaust documentary she could find.
Even with that, though, she insists, "Once you're there, truly, nothing can prepare you."
"It was life-changing, to say the least."
For Montana, it was important that the entire project be as authentic as possible – a far cry from the scripted TV shows and stylized videos she's done in the past.
"Nothing was planned out, aside from the locations we were going to, and I got really vulnerable. I wanted people to feel like they were right there, with me."
Montana makes a point of noting that antisemitism has always had a presence – "There are temple shootings and various forms of antisemitism around the world, all the time" – but when she set out to create "How To: Never Forget," she could never have anticipated the rapid rise in 2022 alone.
"I had always wanted the release to coincide with the anniversary of Kristallnacht, but then all of a sudden, everything started happening in the media. When that happened, I realized it was more important than ever to release the docuseries."
Montana continues that because of the increase in antisemitism, when she did start posting the series, she didn't quite know what to expect from her following – especially because when she's spoken about her grandparents' experience in the holocaust, she's got a ton of hate.
Luckily, she beams that this time, 90% of her audience were incredibly receptive.
"I've had followers tell me they genuinely hadn't learned about what happened, and Jewish followers even telling me that after watching, they were finally proud to share their identity with the world."
As for the other 10%, Montana reveals that she's never been exposed to antisemitism on such a grand scale before.
"I've never seen so much hatred in my life," she admits, heartbroken.
"I had to stop looking at the comments because it was just so bad."
One thing Montana shares she wishes more people were aware of is the fact that while the Jewish community was most affected by the holocaust, anyone deemed to be 'different' was targeted – and she's passionate about using her family's story to tackle hate in all its forms.
"If you fell outside of the scope of what the Nazis deemed appropriate, you were in danger – and today, it almost seems as though something similar is happening. People just hating other people because they're different from them. I don't understand how, in 2022, hatred towards any race, religion, ethnicity or sexual preference is still here and rising."
Montana muses that going forward, she'd be interested in shining a spotlight on how various groups of people were targeted in the holocaust.
"I think it's something that needs to be spoken about more," she says.
And, she's determined to push forward, even in the wake of hate she may face.
"The best things you can do in life are usually the most difficult. This entire experience has been difficult, but it's been the most important thing I've done, for sure."
"Ultimately," she concludes, "If I can do anything to change somebody's mind about hating someone, simply because they're different, that's all I can try to do."
Tessa Hellberg is a pop culture fanatic and a Real Housewives expert. No, really- she holds a Masters Degree in Media Studies, focused specifically on the Real Housewives of her hometown, Johannesburg. When she’s not keeping up with the latest in reality TV news, Tessa loves reading everything from Russian classics to pop culture-infused contemporary novels, as well as putting together different outfits…AKA, her quarantine coping mechanism.