Holocaust survivor hails King’s support for Jewish community
THE King’s support for the Jewish community is “deeply reassuring” amidst “challenging times”, a Holocaust survivor approaching her 100th birthday has said.
Lily Ebert, 99, who will turn 100 tomorrow, told The Daily Telegraph that the King would be sending her a longer letter and a present as well as his customary message for those celebrating their centenary year.
Ms Ebert, who lost her mother, brother and sister in the Holocaust, has 2.1 million followers on Tiktok, where she helps educate the public about her experience.
She was deported by the Nazis from her home town of Bonyhád, Hungary, at the age of 20 in 1944 to Auschwitz-birkenau, where her mother, Nina, younger brother Bela, and younger sister Berta were murdered in the gas chambers.
Four months after they arrived at the camp, she and her two sisters were transferred to a munitions factory in Germany where they worked until liberation in 1945.
Ms Ebert said that she felt “honoured” by the King’s support for her “work as a Holocaust survivor and advocate for the wider Jewish and Holocaust survivor communities”.
She added that King Charles’ interest in the testimonies of survivors was evident, as was his “caring nature”, while the fact he had penned the foreword to her book about her experiences, Lily’s Promise, as well as commissioning portraits of her and other survivors, showed “his commitment to ensuring the world never forgets the Holocaust”.
She said she did not know what he would write about in his letter to her, but imagined it would be “filled with kindness and well wishes”.
“His solidarity during challenging times for the Jewish community is deeply reassuring,” she said.
King Charles has long shown his support for the Jewish community.
On Oct 12 this year he held a private audience with the Chief Rabbi following the attacks on Israeli citizens by Hamas.
At the time, Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis said: “At a time when Jews around the world are grieving following the unspeakable evil perpetrated against loved ones in Israel, I want to thank His Majesty King Charles III for expressing in person his deep concern, and his support for the Jewish community.
“His words of comfort and solidarity give us strength at this dark time.”
In 2022, the King also commissioned seven artists to paint portraits of seven Holocaust survivors, including one of Ms Ebert, which were placed on display in Buckingham Palace.
Ms Ebert said she was excited for her birthday, and that surviving Auschwitz had been “unimaginable”, so it was a blessing to celebrate the day with her 10 grandchildren and 37 great-grandchildren.