Ministers left in tears as Holocaust survivor Mala Tribich makes speech at Number 10
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Ministers were left in tears after a Holocaust survivor delivered a speech to the cabinet at Number 10 for the first time ever.
Mala Tribich, 95, demanded that the government’s top ministers do “everything to tackle antisemitism” after being left “shaken to the core” by recent terror attacks in Manchester and Sydney.
Some were so moved by the speech that they had to lower their heads and dry their eyes.
Mrs Tribich had been sent to the Bergen-Belsen death camp with her younger cousin when she was around 14-years-old, spending three months there until it was liberated by British troops.
She told the cabinet, on Holocaust Memorial Day: “I sit before you as one of the last remaining eyewitnesses to one of the darkest chapters in human history.
“I’m here as a representative of the British Holocaust survivor community. For decades, we have spoken to people across the country, sharing our painful memories.
“Soon, there will be no eyewitnesses left.
“That is why I ask you today not just to listen, but to become my witnesses.”
The rousing five-minute speech on Tuesday was met with a standing ovation.
Keir Starmer listens to Holocaust survivor, Mala Tribich. Pic: PA
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer told her: “You are the first Holocaust survivor ever to address the cabinet in this country, and so it really is an incredible occasion.
“All of us, myself included, are humbled by your courage and inspired by your story.
“It is our duty not just to hear and listen, but also to act and to absolutely deal with anybody who tries to deny or distort what happened in the Holocaust.”
Ministers give a standing ovation following Mrs Tribich’s speech. Pic: PA
Mrs Tribich had largely been incapacitated by typhus during her stay at the brutal death camp.
Her mother and eight-year-old sister were murdered by the Nazis in a local forest.
Tens of thousands of people, including diarist Anne Frank, died at the Nazi camp in northern Germany, which was liberated by the British on 15 April 1945.
Mrs Tribich, who was made an MBE in 2012 for services to education, shares her testimony in schools and colleges across the UK.
She said: “We survivors never imagined we would witness antisemitism at the level it is today.
“What we have seen in Manchester, and Sydney on Hanukkah has shaken us to the core.
“How, 81 years after the Holocaust, can these people once again be targeted in this way?
“Remembering the past is no longer enough.
“I speak to you, leaders of this country I proudly call home, and I plead that you do what needs to be done.”
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Sir Keir thanked Mrs Tribich for her “powerful words”, and said the government would do “everything to tackle antisemitism wherever it reared its ugly head”.
Karen Pollock CBE, chief executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust, added: “Mala, and survivors like her, share their stories in the hope that the next generation will always know what happened during the darkest days in our shared memory, acting as a memorial to the six million Jewish men, women and children who were murdered by the Nazis.
“As the Holocaust passes from living memory into history, today’s meeting with the prime minister and cabinet is a poignant reminder of the responsibility to confront anti-Jewish hatred and ensure that the legacies of Holocaust survivors endure.”
