Holocaust could very easily happen again, says survivor
The Holocaust could “very easily” happen again, a survivor of the atrocity who lives in Dublin has said.
Suzi Diamond was speaking before a Holocaust Memorial Day event yesterday.
She said occasions like the one at Royal Hospital Kilmainham which was attended by the taoiseach, tanaiste and minister for justice are important as people “don't think the past could happen again, but it can happen again”.
“It doesn't take any length of time for it to happen, the simplest thing, strike of a match, and something could blow up again,” she said.
Born near Budapest in Hungary, Ms Diamond's father was taken away by Nazis during the war. In 1945 she, her mother and brother were rounded up, and brought on a journey that ended at Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. Her mother died of typhoid after the camp was liberated.
An Irish volunteer paediatrician, Bob Collis, brought Suzi, 2, and Terry, 5, to Ireland where they were adopted by a Jewish couple in Dublin.
Speaking yesterday, Ms Diamond said: “The past can actually happen again in the future, and you need events like this to bring it to people's attention.”
Last week a survey by the Claims Conference, an organisation which negotiates compensation for Holocaust survivors, found 9% of Irish 18 to 29-year-olds believe the Holocaust did not happen. Almost a fifth (19%) said they believed it happened, but the number of Jews who were killed has been greatly exaggerated.
• A book on Charlie Warmington’s family’s experience of Nazi Germany is being launched tomorrow at 1pm in the Public Records Office, Belfast and 7pm in Lisburn Museum