Advertising helps fund Big Issue’s mission to end poverty
News

Holocaust survivor warns against history repeating itself

Hédi Fried says we must 'never got used to injustice'

Holocaust survivor Hédi Fried believes it’s important to share her harrowing tale so that the current generation can ensure such a thing never happens again.

Fried was 19 when she arrived at Auschwitz from Hungary. Shortly afterwards she said goodbye to her parents for the last time.

Now 94, she channels her extraordinary philosophy into Holocaust awareness by visiting schools in her adopted home of Sweden. 

She said: “One of the lessons from the Holocaust is this: never get used to injustice. An injustice is like a grain of sand in your hand; on its own, its weight may seem insignificant, but injustices have a tendency to multiply, they soon become so heavy that you can no longer bear them.

 “There are still a few eyewitnesses who can speak about their own experiences. Soon, there will be no eyewitnesses left, and in order to try to prevent these horrors from happening again, our stories must be passed on.

“We already have a nominated day of remembrance, January 27. I hope that this becomes a long-lived tradition, through which new generations can pass on the story and tell it in a way that reaches their listeners’ hearts.”

Advertising helps fund Big Issue’s mission to end poverty
Advertising helps fund Big Issue’s mission to end poverty

Read more from Fried in this week’s copy of The Big Issue, on sale now.

Advertising helps fund Big Issue’s mission to end poverty

Do you know how Big Issue 'really' works?

Watch this simple explanation.

Recommended for you

View all
Government launches new AI chatbot – but there are fears 'people in need might be excluded'
Woman with baby on computer
Digital inclusion

Government launches new AI chatbot – but there are fears 'people in need might be excluded'

DWP to hire 500 new Access to Work case workers – but will it save the scheme?
dwp
Access to Work

DWP to hire 500 new Access to Work case workers – but will it save the scheme?

What does the government's cost of living boost mean for family budgets this summer?
baby in supermarket trolley
Cost of living

What does the government's cost of living boost mean for family budgets this summer?

I lost my son to gambling addiction. Now I’m fighting to change the system
Gambling

I lost my son to gambling addiction. Now I’m fighting to change the system