More than a quarter of Holocaust survivors have experienced discrimination or abuse linked to their religion or ethnicity, a YouGov survey conducted for the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust has found.
The research also revealed that a third of survivors’ relatives have experienced hatred linked to their faith or race.
Discrimination they had experienced included antisemitic bullying and Holocaust denial.
Holocaust Memorial Day Trust chief executive Olivia Marks-Woldman said: “It’s shocking to think that these individuals, having survived some of the very worst acts in human history, have experienced hatred and discrimination on the streets of the country that is now their refuge.
“While many acts of hate are defined as crimes in the UK, the fact that persecution on the grounds of faith or race has continued, serves as a valuable reminder of the how vital Holocaust Memorial Day is, and how as a society we must reflect on what survivors’ experiences can teach us, in order to build a better future.”
Joan Salter was three-months-old when Belgium was invaded by the Nazis. She was separated from her parents and sent on a boat to live with a foster family in America.
Today she visits schools to teach children about her experiences, but was shocked when one child suggested she was there to tell them “lies”.
She said: “I’ve heard many reactions along the way, not all of them supportive unfortunately.
“I spoke at a school once, and asked the children what they had expected to hear from me. One boy replied that he expected me to ‘tell lies’ about the past. That was a real shock.”
Fifty two per cent of the survivors surveyed said they had waited more than 20 years before talking about their experiences.
Ms Salter said: “Everyone deals with these things in their own ways. My mother was never able to talk about what had happened to her, it was just too painful.
“While I, on the other hand, have spent a lot of time sharing my family’s story to help people understand the Holocaust, in the hope that by understanding, we can tackle discrimination and hatred in all its forms.”
According to the survey sixty per cent of survivors were motivated to break their silence by a desire to help others understand what had happened.
Twenty seven per cent said they thought about their experiences every day; 40 per cent said they had made them appreciate life more.
