Why I told young people how I survived
MALA TRIBICH mbe Mala was born in 1930 in Poland and is the survivor of Ravensbrück and Bergen-Belsen concentration camps. She came to England in 1947 and now shares her testimony in schools around the country for the Holocaust Educational Trust. Mala was awarded an MBE in 2012 for services to education.
At the end of World War II, when I was liberated from Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, the revelation of what had been happening in the occupied countries to Jews and others brought about such revulsion that I thought that antisemitism would be a thing of the past.
Sadly, the irrational hatred of Jewish people has not disappeared. I don’ t use social media, so I was shocked when someone sent me examples of the foul antisemitic lies which appear there, and the disgusting personal attacks aimed at Jewish MPs, even by members of their own Party. I think that social media, which was originally introduced to allow friends to communicate and reconnect, has unwittingly provided a platform which allows any crank or bigot who previously could muster a small audience on a street corner to broadcast deranged ideas worldwide. I feel that those who have made a fortune out of allowing the publication of such filth bear a heavy responsibility for the spread of intolerance.
I recently had a very uncomfortable experience at a formal dinner at one of our ancient universities. It came up in conversation that I am Jewish. My dining companion, a teacher, immediately said“ Oh, so what do you think of Israel, the rogue state?” I am well aware that there is scope for genuine disagreement about some of the policies of the Israeli government, but in my view this hostile question, damning an entire nation, is beyond the pale. I was especially disturbed that a teacher could have such an ignorant, dogmatic, and one sided opinion about the only Jewish State, and apparently be so ignorant of its history.
As a Holocaust survivor I am especially concerned that young people need to know what happened in the world before they were born, and to understand where prejudice and discrimination can lead, so that they will not be swayed by harmful ideologies.
So I speak by invitation at a widely different range of organisations, state schools, public schools, and faith schools; also at colleges, universities, and many other institutions.
Wherever I go I am heard with respect, and it seems that most people are interested in listening to a Holocaust
22 – Lessons Learned? Reflections on antisemitism and the Holocaust