From Malay Mail · · 2m
George Shafi's Holocaust Message to Germany
94-year-old Holocaust survivor George Shafi urges German youth to combat rising anti-Semitism.
In brief
94-year-old Holocaust survivor George Shafi urges German youth to combat rising anti-Semitism. George Shafi, 94, warns German youth to prevent anti-Semitism by remembering Holocaust history. Originally reported by Malay Mail.
George Shafi, 94, shares Holocaust memory
George Shafi, a 94-year-old Holocaust survivor, views sharing his firsthand experiences of Kristallnacht as a vital mission, particularly amidst rising anti-Semitism.
Kristallnacht: 1938 pogroms
The wave of violence unleashed by the Nazi regime on November 9-10, 1938 saw at least 90 Jewish people killed and 1,400 synagogues set alight across Germany.
George Shafi's childhood memory
George Shafi, born Spiegelglas in 1931, was just six years old when the anti-Semitic riots shook his home city of Berlin.
George Shafi's school burned
His mother did not let him out of the house in the capital’s Schoeneberg district for three days, but when he finally emerged, he was confronted with a radically changed city.
George Shafi's school burned
‘My school was burned down,’ he told AFP, speaking last Thursday at a ceremony at the New Synagogue in Berlin organised by the International March for the Living.
George Shafi's memory of anti-Semitic graffiti
He recalls a hat shop broken into with glass all over the place, women’s hats scattered, and a stationery shop owner jeered while clearing anti-Semitic graffiti.
George Shafi's mother's fate
George was placed on a train to safety in the UK via the Kindertransport, but his mother was deported to Auschwitz and murdered on January 30, 1943.
George Shafi's message to youth
George Shafi has told over 12,000 schoolchildren that ‘you’re not allowed to forget the Holocaust’ and that ‘you’re not responsible for what was, but you’re responsible for the next 20, 30 years’.
Rising anti-Semitism in Germany
Anti-Semitic offences in Germany surged from 1,400 in 2015 to 6,500 last year, with a spike after the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks on Israel.
Threat to Holocaust remembrance
Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) opposes Holocaust remembrance, banning new ‘Stolpersteine’ memorials in Heidenau in September.
George Shafi's call to action
George Shafi urges German youth to wake up to anti-Semitism and fight for democracy, saying ‘People have to wake up to it, and if you want to keep this country democratic, you have to start…
The takeaway
George Shafi, 94, warns German youth to prevent anti-Semitism by remembering Holocaust history.
