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CNN 10
U.S. Carrier Strike Group Deploys to Middle East; Social Media Brings A Holocaust Survivor`s Diary Back To Life After More Than 70 Years
Aired May 08, 2019 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CARL AZUZ, CNN 10 HOST: Hi, I`m Carl Azuz. Today`s edition of CNN 10 begins in the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow passage of water between the
Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman. This Middle Eastern strait, which his 21 miles wide, is important to the global economy. About 30 percent of the
world`s crude oil passes through it.
Now, a United States carrier strike group has been deployed the strait. It includes an aircraft carrier, the USS Abraham Lincoln, as well as
destroyers, a guided missile cruiser and a group bomber aircraft. Why are they all headed to the Middle East? It`s to send a message to the nation
of Iran.
It forms the northern border of the Strait of Hormuz. And American officials say they have specific incredible intelligence that the Iranian
military and groups that operate beneath it are planning to target U.S. forces in Syria, Iraq and at sea. Tensions between Iran and the U.S. are
soaring. Last month, America declared that part of Iran`s military is a foreign terrorist organization.
And Iran responded by declaring the U.S. is a state sponsor of terrorism. Because America accuses Iran of participating in terrorist attacks around
the world, it`s trying to pressure Iran to change its behavior. And one way it`s doing that is by blocking Iran`s revenues from oil sales, which
are the main source of the country`s foreign income.
Iran has said it would continue finding buyers for its oil and using the Strait of Hormuz to ship it. It also directly warned America not to block
or interfere with the strait. But while American officials say the U.S. isn`t seeking war with Iran, it is prepared to respond with, quote,
"unrelenting force to any Iranian attacks on American interests or allies."
Next today, a new conversation is taking place around events that occurred three quarters of a century ago. While the diary of Anne Frank has served
as an enduring and harrowing account of the Holocaust, the diary of Eva Heyman is barely known at all. It too involves a teenage girl`s true
experience of Nazi persecution, and like Anne Frank, Eva also died in a concentration camp.
They were both among the 6 million Jews who perished in the genocide. But there`s a new interpretation of Eva`s experiences aimed a 21st century
audience on a 21st century social media platform. And while not everyone agrees with how it`s being presented, it is reaching hundreds of thousands.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: More than 70 years after the Holocaust, there are a dwindling few survivors to pass on their memories.
There`re stories commemorating them (ph) in documentaries and museums, amidst a fear their lessons are fading.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, my name is Eva. That`s me.
LIEBERMANN: Eva Heyman is the new face of those lessons. The 13-year-old Hungarian Jew kept a diary in the last months before she was deported to
Auschwitz in May 1944, where she would die.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`m about to turn 13. I`m surrounded by war, but I`m always seeing the sun.
LIEBERMANN: Her story was all but forgotten until Instagram brought it back to life.
MATI KOCHAVI, EVA`S STORY CREATOR: We were looking for a way to deal with this (ph) this memory and manage this memory in a way that is going to be
relevant for a younger generation today.
LIEBERMANN: Eva`s diary was reimagined on social media. On March 31, 1944, she wrote, "Today, an order was issued that, from now on, Jews have
to wear a yellow star-shaped patch. The order tells exactly how big the star patch must be and that it must be sown on every outer garment, jacket
or coat. When grandma heard this, she started acting up again, and we called the diary." The idea to bring the diary to life on Instagram was
the brainchild of Mati and Maya Kochavi, who wanted the Holocaust to reach a younger generation.
KOCHAVI: The diary, the journal is very short. It starts on February 12, when it`s her birthday. One March, the Germans invade into Hungary. On
May 30, she`s already on the train to Auschwitz. So it`s a journal - it`s a journal of 108 days. That`s all.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don`t think we will see sweet mother (ph) for some time.
LIEBERMANN: Eva`s story was released on the eve on Holocaust Memorial Day in Israel. By that time, it had hundreds of thousands of followers. Not
everyone has been thrilled with the Instagram story advertised on billboards, like this here behind me, all around Tel Aviv.
Critics have said it dumbs down the Holocaust and is a PR campaign in bad taste. Others have said it`s a very short distance from a social media
campaign like this, the selfies at Auschwitz. That was never the intent behind Eva Heyman`s story, of course.
MAYA KOCHAVI, EVA`S STORY CREATOR: Social media, especially Instagram, is shallow if you`re looking for content that is shallow. And if you`re
looking for content that is powerful and has magnitude and can cause revolutions even, you will very easily find it there.
LIEBERMANN: In her final diary entry, written three days before she was deported from Hungary, she wrote, "Dear Diary, I don`t want to die. I want
to live, even if it means that I`ll be the only person here allow to stay. I would wait for the end of the war in some cellar, just as long as they
didn`t kill me, only that they should let me live."
This was a way of humanizing the Holocaust for a modern audience and making it more relevant to millennials. It`s the same message of never again, its
creators insist, just reimagined for a new generation for learn. Oren Liebermann, CNN, Jerusalem.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: 10 Second Trivia. What do Ulysses, Operation IceBridge and CALIPSO all in common? Are they all James Joyce stories, NASA missions, Nintendo
games, 1960`s pop songs? These are all the names of NASA missions that were launched, starting in the `90s.
Of course, the most famous NASA mission is probably Apollo 11, when American astronauts first flew to and then set foot on the moon. That
happened on July 20, 1969, making this year the 50 anniversary of the historic accomplishment. What sometimes gets overlooked though are NASA`s
other moon missions. There were several of them before the program wrapped up in 1972, and they provided history and humor all their own.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Six-hundred million people watched Neil Armstrong take those famous first steps on the moon.
NEIL ARMSTRONG, ASTRONAUT: That`s one small step for man.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But after the Apollo 11 astronauts return to earth, public interest in later Apollo missions began to fade.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right, Huston, we have a problem.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But the people who continue to tune in were treated to some pretty special moments. Astronauts took advantage of their unique
surroundings to have a bit of fun. During the Apollo 17 mission, Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt sang their own rendition of the "Fountain in
the Park."
(EUGENE CERNAN AND HARRISON SCHMITT SINGING "FOUNTAIN IN THE PARK")
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The classic jumping photo. It may have been attempted at the last wedding you attended.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on out here and give me a salute.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, during the Apollo 16 mission, astronaut Charlie Duke captured John Young in midair, while saluting to the flag.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, here we go, abig one. Off the ground (inaudible). There we go.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s since gone down as one of the most famous Apollo photos ever taken. When they weren`t taking epic pictures, Duke and Young
got to drive around in a lunar rover. The electric buggies were used on the last Apollo missions, 15, 16 and 17, and provided astronauts a fast way
to cover large distances, helping them make more scientific discoveries than they could on foot, or just to do a bit of joyriding.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I thought the ride was real sporty. It bounced a lot. Sometimes, both front wheels were off the surface. The backend is like
driving on ice and breaking loose occasionally, but it was lot of fun.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Back in the 16th century, Galileo taught his students that objects fall at the same rate, regardless of their size or mass, that
is if they`re not restricted by any resistance from the air.
DAVID SCOTT, ASTRONAUT: Well, in my left hand I have a feather, in my right hand, a hammer.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, since the moon has virtually no air to breathe, Apollo 15 commander David Scott decided to test this experiment by dropping
a feather and a hammer from the same height. Low and behold, they did in fact hit the ground at the same time.
SCOTT: How about that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And just for a little fun, Alan Shepard brought the head of six iron and a couple of golf balls aboard Apollo 14. The head was
modified so he could attach it to an instrument that collected rock samples.
ALAN SHEPARD: (Inaudible). I`m going to try it on sand traps out here. It should`ve gone probably on the earth maybe 30, 35 yards, but that little
rascal went over 200 yards, and with one hand, shot it like that, and it was in the air. The time of flight was almost 35 seconds. Miles and miles
and miles.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: These lighter moments punctuated the main mission of scientific exploration, but perhaps the most enduring images are the ones
when the astronauts when actually looked back at earth. This one taken on Apollo 17, the last time man was on the moon. It`s known simply as The
Blue Marble.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: It`s hard to get Apol-over that truly earthtastic imagine. It makes you moony eyed. It`s like someone hung the moon and then made a world of
difference by taking a picture from it. You can see why it stars on so moony posters. Sometimes a little space is all you need to see how
beautiful the world can be. I`m Carl Azuz for CNN.
END
