AUSCHWITZ SURVIVOR’S
HOLOCAUST TESTIMONY
VIDEOS HIT 1M TIKTOK
FOLLOWERS
Lily Ebert, 97, hit the milestone on the site this week, on the account she runs with her great-grandson, Dov Forman, who is seventeen. The pair’s channel sees Lily answer questions about her experiences at the infamous camp, spreading Holocaust awareness to a younger generation.
“I enjoy making every video with Dov,” said Lily. “I think it is very important and I am proud of the work we are doing in order to ensure the Holocaust, and in particular my testimony, is never forgotten.
“Even after liberation I never thought I would be able to have children, let alone 34 great grandchildren, so I love making the videos with Dov where we show family moments – family is so important to me and I feel so lucky to have such a loving family around me.”
Lily was 14 when the Nazis deported her from Bonyhad, Hungary to Auschwitz with her mother, brother and three sisters. On arrival, her mother Nina, brother Bela and sister Berta were sent to the gas chambers. She never saw them again.
Dov Forman, Lily’s great-grandson, said he believed social media could be a force for good, providing education about the Holocaust and subsequent genocides to a new generation.
“I feel incredibly proud to be helping her reach millions of people online,” he said.
“A few months ago she did not even know what TikTok was so it really is incredible that our account has almost reached 1 million followers.
“As the number of survivors dwindles with time and we move further away from the Holocaust, it is our responsibility to internalise the testimonies from survivors and to share them.”
A book about Lily’s experiences, called Lily’s Promise: How I Survived Auschwitz and Found the Strength to Live has been co-written between Lily and Dov, and will be published on 2nd September by Pan Macmillan. It is available to pre-order.
Lily Ebert, 97, has reached a million followers on TikTok with videos on her experiences surviving the Holocaust after setting up an account with great-grandson.
Josh Salisbury, Jewish News UK