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Me and You: ‘I understand Dov and he does me’

Lily Ebert is a survivor of Auschwitz, Dov Forman is one of her 34 great-grandchildren and has taken her testimony about the Shoah to social media - they have more than a million followers on TikTok, and published a book last week

September 9, 2021 18:02
dov and lily photo
5 min read

Dov on Lily: I have so many memories with my Safta, really happy ones of going to the park or the zoo, or sharing Shabbat — it’s not all Holocaust memories. She used to take the family out and play football. Even when my friends come round they talk to her like she’s our age. She’s very youthful and fun.

I knew from a young age that my Safta was a survivor — before I really understood what that meant. She spoke about it at my primary school, but it was very watered down. It was just so kids in the school could meet a survivor and at least remember that they’d met a survivor.

But then one of my friends in Year Six asked to see her tattoo. And I would never ever have dreamed of asking her at that age. I can still remember sitting in the lounge and she showed both of us her tattoo, and I felt very shocked and emotional. It brought it all home, and I realised that she was actually there.

She had a bank note given to her by an Jewish American soldier after liberation. He signed it. And I took pictures so I could put them on Twitter and see if I could find the soldier for her.