Ministers weep as Holocaust survivor warns Cabinet over resurgent antisemitism on memorial day
Ministers wept today as a Holocaust survivor issued a stark warning about resurgent antisemitism.
Mala Tribich, 95, told the Cabinet she never imagined prejudice would return to these levels and insisted the government must ‘do what needs to be done’ to stop it.
Ms Tribich told the event, which Keir Starmer hailed as a historic first to mark Holocaust Remembrance Day, that she had been ‘shaken to the core’ by recent terror attacks in Manchester and Sydney.
Senior politicians became visibly emotional as Ms. Tribich told her story, bowing their heads and drying their eyes. He received a standing ovation after his five-minute speech.
Welcoming her at No10, Sir Keir said: ‘You are the first Holocaust survivor in this country to address the Cabinet and it is truly an incredible event.
‘We are all, myself included, humbled by your courage and inspired by your story.
Mala Tribich, 95, told the Cabinet she never imagined antisemitism would return to these levels and insisted the government must “do what needs to be done” to stop it.
Senior politicians became visibly emotional as Ms. Tribich shared her story, bowing their heads and drying their eyes.
‘It is our duty not only to hear and listen, but also to act and to deal with anyone who tries to deny or distort what happened in the Holocaust.’
Ms Tribich told Cabinet: ‘I sit before you as one of the last remaining eyewitnesses to one of the darkest chapters in human history.
‘I am here as a representative of the British Holocaust survivor community. For decades, we talked to people all over the country, sharing painful memories.
‘Soon there will be no eyewitnesses left.
‘So today I ask you not only to listen, but to be my witnesses.’
At the age of 14, Ms. Tribich was deported with her younger cousin to the Bergen-Belsen death camp; He spent less than three months there – largely incapacitated by typhus – watching out of his sickbed window as people rushed towards where he would learn there were British troops.
Tens of thousands of people, including diarist Anne Frank, died in the Nazi camp in Northern Germany, which was liberated by the British on April 15, 1945.
Ms Tribich, who was awarded an MBE in 2012 for services to education, shares her testimony from schools and colleges across the UK.
‘We survivors never imagined we would see antisemitism at the level it is today,’ he said.
‘What we saw at Chanukah in Manchester and Sydney shook us deeply.
‘How can these people be targeted in this way once again, 81 years after the Holocaust?
‘Remembering the past is no longer enough.
‘I speak to you, the leaders of this country that I proudly call home, and I implore you to do what must be done.’
In a speech that Keir Starmer praised as a historic first to mark Holocaust Remembrance Day, Ms Tribich described being ‘shaken to her core’ by recent terror attacks in Manchester and Sydney.
Holocaust survivor received a standing ovation after his five-minute speech
The Prime Minister thanked Ms Tribich for her ‘strong words’ and said the Government would ‘do everything to combat antisemitism wherever it rears its ugly head’.
He said the government must not only listen but also act.
Karen Pollock CBE, chief executive of the Holocaust Education Foundation, said: ‘Mala and survivors like her share their stories in the hope that the next generation will always know what happened during the darkest days in our collective memory, acting as a memorial to the six million Jewish men, women and children killed by the Nazis.
‘As the Holocaust passes from living memory into history, today’s meeting with the Prime Minister and Cabinet is a poignant reminder of the responsibility to confront anti-Semitic hatred and ensure that the legacy of Holocaust survivors continues.’
