‘As survivors of the Holocaust and Jews who escaped the Nazis we cannot remain silent as hunger and deprivation threaten the lives of civilians in Gaza,’ signatories say
As Holocaust survivors, their voices carry the weight of history.
And today, as famine is declared in Gaza, a dozen Jewish people who escaped the Nazis make an urgent plea to help the stricken enclave’s hungry. In a powerful open letter, the 12 survivors “implore all those responsible to feed the vulnerable and prevent the starvation of Palestinians in Gaza”.
Children are among hundreds already said to have perished from malnutrition-related deaths as the stricken enclave stands in ruins after nearly two years of bombardment by Israel. But the declaration of famine, by the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, marks a significant step in the humanitarian crisis.
Here, we publish the Holocaust survivors’ words in full…
Holocaust survivors’ letter on famine in Gaza
As survivors of the Holocaust and Jews who escaped the Nazis we cannot remain silent as hunger and deprivation threaten the lives of civilians in Gaza. We are not comparing Israel’s action in Gaza to the Nazi gas chambers. The murders of October 7th, when Jews were slaughtered in the land that promised refuge, horrified us and we understand Israel’s grief.
We condemn Hamas for its genocidal goals, its taking of hostages, and its contempt for both Palestinian and Jewish lives. But our anger should not lead us to dehumanize those we fear, as we know where that can lead. Every human life—Jewish, Palestinian, or any other—has equal value. We support Israel’s right to defend its people. But that defence must not result in the slow death of Palestinian children from hunger. We know too well what it means to feel hunger, watch the young grow thin and weak and to see neighbours waste away.
We join with the Arab League and many governments in calling on Hamas to release all hostages immediately, to stop using civilians as shields and diverting aid. Only when its tyrannical rule over Gaza ends can Israelis and Palestinians live in safety. But what if, in the course of trying to remove Hamas, the trauma of hunger and war causes the next generation to demand revenge? It would be a pyrrhic victory for Israel. We see there are double standards in the World. A man-made famine is already underway in Sudan. As black Africans perish it causes no global outrage and the dead there are not even counted, while Israel’s critics welcome those responsible as statesmen. But being held to a higher moral standard should be seen as a duty and honour, not a burden.
We understand why trust between Israel and UN agencies in Gaza has been broken. But we implore all parties not to allow this to stand in the way of finding an urgent solution to feed people. Today, the aid that enters Gaza is far too little. It is the weakest – children, the elderly, the disabled – who are most unable to reach help. We call on everyone with power over the flow of food, water, medicine, and fuel into the Gaza Strip to act immediately and decisively to prevent famine and to protect civilians. We ask donor governments to fully fund the response and support independent monitoring so that aid reaches civilians swiftly.
We take seriously as Jews the responsibility of Tikkun Olam , repairing the world. Yet as peace today seems further away than ever, we recall that some of us survived the Shoah because, even in the darkest of times, both neighbours and strangers who could have turned away from us chose instead to act from conscience. From the pain of October 7th we thank those Israeli Arabs who were among the first to risk their lives to rescue Jews during the pogrom. We draw hope from those Israelis and Palestinians now engaged in the vital work of community peacebuilding – especially those who choose this path despite losing loved ones on or since October 7th. These role models prove that coexistence is possible. They understand that the battle line for peace is not between two peoples, but between extremism and humanity.
For the sake of our shared humanity, we implore all those responsible to feed the vulnerable and prevent the starvation of Palestinians in Gaza. If you will not feed the hungry for any other reason, do it in our name. It is the lowest standard to which any of us should expect to be held.
The 12 signatories are:
- Eva Clarke BEM — Born at Mauthausen concentration camp on 29 April 1945.
- Hanneke Dye — Born in Holland in hiding in 1943 during the Nazi occupation., she was sent to a foster family until the end of the war, to stay safe.
- Hedi Argent MBE — Born in Vienna in 1929, Hedi fled Nazi Austria to Britain in 1939.
- Janine Webber BEM — Born in 1932 in Lwów Poland (now Lviv, Ukraine), she survived the Holocaust by living in hiding.
- Joan Salter MBE — Born Fanny Zimetbaum in Brussels, Belgium, in 1940, Joan escaped Nazi-occupied Europe as a child.
- Manfred Dessau — Born in Berlin in 1926 he came to Britain as a child as part of the Kindertransport.
- Ruth Barnett MBE — Born in Berlin in 1935, she came to Britain on the Kindertransport, aged four.
- Simon Winston BEM — Born in 1938 in Radzivillov, which was in Poland and is now Ukraine. He fled from the ghetto and survived in hiding.
- Steven Frank BEM — Born in Amsterdam in 1935, his father was murdered in Auschwitz, while he, his mothers and brothers survived Westerbork and Theresienstadt.
- Peter Briess — Born in Czechoslovakia in 1931, he escaped with his parents to Britain in 1939.
- Yehudit David — Born in July 1929, Yehudit escaped Nazi Germany with her parents and brother in August 1938, settling in America. Later, she moved to Israel.
- Ruth Shire — German-born Holocaust survivor was sent to Oxfordshire to escape the Nazis by her parents, aged 15, and rebuilt her life in Birmingham.