Survivors of Auschwitz have warned against forgetting Nazi atrocities as the world marked International Holocaust Memorial Day on Wednesday, with one survivor due to address the German parliament and directly challenge the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD).
Tova Friedman, 87, who survived Auschwitz as a five-year-old, said she would ask the AfD: 'How dare you? Who do you think you are?' Her remarks come amid rising populism and antisemitism across Europe.
At the Auschwitz memorial site in Poland, 24 former prisoners laid wreaths at the 'death wall' where German soldiers killed prisoners. Polish President Karol Nawrocki joined survivors for a ceremony at nearby Birkenau, where about 1.1 million Jews and others were murdered.
In Berlin, candles were lit at the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, while across Germany and Europe, informal gatherings took place at Stolpersteine – brass plaques marking former homes of deported Jews. The Netherlands held a silent procession through Amsterdam's Jewish quarter.
An estimated 196,600 Jewish survivors remain alive globally, down from 220,000 a year ago, according to the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany. Friedman, who now lives in the US, said: 'I represent one and a half million children who were murdered... I was simply luckier.'
Friedman and her grandson run a TikTok account called 'TovaTok' to warn against antisemitism. She called on ordinary people to stand up against extremism, as surveys show ignorance about the Holocaust among some young people.
