Speaking in Brussels, Susan, who will be 93 in March, wants people to “Remember, stand up and speak out”.
Susan, who was a 13 year old girl when she was held in the Auschwitz concentration camp, also appealed to those behind such attacks to “remember” the atrocities carried out by the Nazis in WW2.
She was in the European Parliament on Wednesday to mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
She said, “I was just a young girl when my brother and I were taken away and sent to Auschwitz. I do not know how I survived but I think I just became brain dead to what was happening. When I arrived there, I was still carrying a sewing machine on my shoulder, because I thought I was being taken somewhere to start a new life, and sewing was to be my new source of a livelihood;”
“I know my brother suffered terribly afterwards but that may have something to do with the fact that he was given a job at the camp to shovel up and incinerate the dead bodies.”
She also appealed for an end to the rise in anti-Semitic attacks in the UK, where she has lived since 1962, and elsewhere.
“People should remember what has happened in the past and resolve never to repeat this.”
She was a guest at a special event in the parliament to mark the solemn occasion. An example to us all, she travelled over with her backpack on Eurostar to lobby alongside the politicians.
Another speaker was the assembly’s president Antonio Tajani who said he wanted to pay tribute to the victims of the “most horrific tragedy in European history: the Holocaust.”
This, he said, was a chance to “reaffirm that the Holocaust is an everlasting warning to humanity of the dangers of hatred and racism.
The Italian member said, To our deepest regret, Jews continue to leave Europe.”
To reverse this trend, he said he had organised in 2016 a high-level meeting on the future of Jews in Europe.
“After this conference, the European Parliament passed its first Resolution on the fight against anti-Semitism and I would like to thank the many members who are at the forefront of this fight.”
The EPP deputy also welcome the adoption by the Council of the Declaration on combatting anti-Semitism that includes a roadmap with the actions needed.
“Many thanks to the Romanian Prime Minister and the Romanian Council Presidency for implementing them but we have to work together and to do more.”
A Eurobarometer published this week says that 50 percent of Europeans see anti-Semitism as a problem in their country.
Tajani said, “This is unacceptable. We must act and react. We must reach out to citizens, in particular young people. They are the future of Europe
“Our schools and universities should not only provide skills and knowledge. They should teach the importance of solidarity, freedom, and respect for human dignity. These are the cornerstones of our democracy.
“The European Parliament will always be at the forefront, defending the principles set in the United Nations resolution on Holocaust Remembrance.”
The author James Wilson, is the Editor of EU Political Report.
