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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.”

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

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