This 97-year-old Hungarian Holocaust survivor is the oldest star of TikTok! – VIDEOS
“In Auschwitz, you were not afraid of death. You were afraid of life” – says the 97-year-old great-grandmother, Lily Ebert, in one of her Tiktok videos. Lily is a real survivor. She survived the Holocaust, and some months ago, a severe COVID infection. Afterwards, her great-grandson asked Lily to share her story in 20-30-second-long videos.
Her Hungarian is still astonishingly good
Today, she is one of the biggest TikTok stars with more than 1.4 million followers and videos reaching ten million people.
@lilyebert Reply to @aimeelilyhoff Not human, just numbers 🥺💔#neverforget #auschwitz #holocaust #learnontiktok #holocaustsurvivor #hell #history #viral #jewish
♬ Schindler’s List – Movie Theme – Michele Garruti
Atv.hu visited Lily Ebert in her London home, where she welcomed the TV’s reporter with her great-grandson, Dov Forman. Lily was born in Bonyhád in 1923, when every eighth resident of the small city was Jewish. She was 21 when the authorities deported her and her family to Auschwitz, where two of her siblings and her mother were murdered immediately after their arrival. She worked as a seamstress first. Then she was transferred to a munitions factory. American troops freed her, and one of the soldiers gave her a banknote with some good wishes. According to Lily, that was the first sign of goodwill for a long while, so she kept it.
@lilyebert Reply to @bucimaaci of course! #hungarian is my mother tongue. #holocaustsurvivor #mystory #family #love #followandlearn #97yearold #languages #u #for
♬ original sound – Lily Ebert & Dov Forman
Thanks to TikTok, they could find the soldier who gave it in 1945. He died earlier, but they could still speak with his son. The video reached more than 20 million shares on TikTok.
@lilyebert Reply to @lesbanon We were so weak 🥺#auschwitz #concentrationcamp #holocaust #history #askquestions #learnontiktok #97yearold #jewtok #shabbat #viral
♬ Emotional Piano Instrumental In E Minor – Tom Bailey Backing Tracks
Lily says that she would like people to live in peace with each other. “Instead of hurting one another, we should help each other” – she added. She and the 17-year-old Dov started to share her story on Twitter, but after she survived a severe COVID infection in January, they moved to TikTok.
@lilyebert Reply to @jakie971 To be a witness 💔🥺 #holocaustsurvivor #holocaust #auschwitz #97yearold #history #jewishtiktok #weremember #viral #hungarian #fypp
♬ Steven Universe – L.Dre
Dov said that his great-grandmother regularly talked in high schools and universities before the pandemic. That is because she promised herself that provided she survives, she would share her story. During the lockdowns, they thought videos might replace the class talks. And the idea became a huge success.
@lilyebert We went into the #concentrationcamp together – I came out from it, alone. They took my mother 💔🥺 #holocaustsurvivor #learnontiktok #blowthisup #foru
♬ original sound – Lily Ebert & Dov Forman
Lily answers all the questions she receives from TikTok users. There are no taboos. She receives love and even gifts from her followers, but there are some anti-Semitic comments, as well. There is a great variety of videos showing, e.g. how sporty she is, how she tends to her flowers, how she cooks or celebrates religious holidays.
“Would you like to come to Hungary again?”
After the Holocaust, she moved to Israel, then to the United Kingdom. Answering the question of whether she would ever come home, she says: NO. “They murdered my two siblings and my mother”, and she also adds that others gave her an opportunity of a new life, and she does not want to go back to Hungary, where it was almost taken. However, she still likes the specialities of the Hungarian kitchen, e.g. goulash soup and the red pepper of Szeged – naphire.hu said.
“Do you still believe in God?” – asks her great-grandson in one of the videos. “Yes, I do. God did not do it (the Holocaust), so-called ‘humans’ did” – she replies.
She and Dov published their first book just months ago. It is titled Lily’s promise.
@lilyebert 97-year-old Auschwitz and Holocuast survivor, Lily Ebert reveals her book – ‘LILYS PROMISE’. Support her and pre order ❤️. #bookreveal #love #fyp #u
♬ A Million Dreams (From “The Greatest Showman”) [Instrumental] – The Greatest Showman Ensemble
You can find more videos HERE
Source: atv.hu, naphire.hu