In one of the most emotional and powerful speeches delivered in recent years at the German Bundestag, Tova Friedman, a survivor of the Auschwitz concentration camp, addressed lawmakers with a clear and urgent warning:
“Do not allow antisemitism to rise again.”
Speaking during the official ceremony marking 81 years since the end of the Holocaust, the 87-year-old survivor stunned the chamber with a sentence that echoed far beyond the Bundestag walls:
“I am the girl Hitler was afraid of.”
Friedman reminded the audience that Adolf Hitler’s ultimate goal was to leave no witnesses behind. Today, she stands as a living voice for the six million Jews murdered during the Holocaust, speaking for those whose voices were silenced forever.
🕯️ “Never Again” Must Be More Than Words
Amid sustained applause from members of parliament, Friedman emphasized that the fight against antisemitism must be continuous and active — through politics, education, and the protection of Jewish communities.
“Let responsibility drive us to action,” she said, stressing that “Never Again” must not remain a slogan, but a permanent commitment.
⚠️ When Hatred Becomes Normal
Friedman, who currently lives in the United States, praised Germany’s ongoing efforts to confront its historical responsibility.
“Germany understands, perhaps more than any other country, what happens when hatred becomes normalized and responsibility is abandoned,” she stated.
She underlined that combating antisemitism is a duty that extends to schools, universities, workplaces, online platforms, social organizations, and even among friends.
📱 Preserving Memory Through Social Media
Together with her grandson, Tova Friedman also uses TikTok to educate younger generations about the Holocaust, warning against what she called “the dangerous loss of historical memory.”
According to Friedman, old wounds do not need to be reopened — but forgetting the past is dangerous, as history has shown that silence allows atrocities to repeat themselves.
🏚️ Auschwitz – A Memory That Never Fades
Friedman and her mother survived Auschwitz, the largest Nazi extermination camp, where over one million people were murdered, the majority of them Jews.
“When we left Auschwitz holding hands, my mother whispered to me: ‘Remember,’” Friedman recalled.
“I have remembered every single day since.”
Nazi forces killed 150 members of her mother’s family, while her father returned from the Dachau concentration camp physically and emotionally broken, rarely speaking about his suffering.
“I will continue to speak until the day I die,” Friedman declared, describing her testimony as a moral duty to humanity.
🕯️ Holocaust Remembrance Day
Each year on January 27, the German Bundestag honors the victims and survivors of Nazi crimes. On this date in 1945, the Auschwitz extermination camp in Nazi-occupied Poland was liberated.
Last year, Holocaust survivor Roman Schwarzman from Ukraine also addressed German lawmakers during the remembrance ceremony.
/DW