Holocaust Survivor Lily Ebert’s Enduring Legacy

“My number is A-10572. That is what I was. They didn’t call me. I was not my name. We were not humans. We were only a number, and we were treated only like numbers.”

That’s the testimony of Holocaust survivor Lily Ebert, recorded for TikTok in 2021. The great-great-grandmother, who became a viral sensation on TikTok for her Holocaust testimonies, died October 9 at the age of 100.

@lilyebert Reply to @aimeelilyhoff Not human, just numbers 🥺💔#neverforget #auschwitz #holocaust #learnontiktok #holocaustsurvivor #hell #history #viral #jewish ♬ Schindler's List - Movie Theme - Michele Garruti

Lily led a remarkable life and made it her mission to tell her story to the world. With help from her loving great-grandson, Dov Forman, she was able to do just that, ensuring that her legacy and message live on.

According to Dov, who is 20, Lily may be gone, but her impact will continue to be felt.

“She showed the power of each individual to make a difference in the world,” he told Aish. “At 16 years old, I hit a button and started recording her, and then posted it online. Other people are giving speeches or writing to get the truth out there. Every single person can make a difference.”

Lily’s Harrowing Story

Lily Ebert was born in Hungary in 1923 to an Orthodox Jewish family. She was the oldest child and had three younger sisters and two younger brothers. When she was only 18, her father died from pneumonia.

In 1944, when Nazi Germany took over Hungary, they rounded up the Jews and forced them to live in ghettos. All around her, Jews were being taken to the camps; her brother, Imi, was sent into forced labor.

After the expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Hungarian Jews, Lily’s time came, and she was taken with her mother, three sisters, and youngest brother on one of the last trains to Auschwitz. Tragically, her mother, her brother, and one of her sisters were immediately sent to their deaths, while she and two other sisters, René and Piri, were forced to work.

While on a death march, American soldiers saved and liberated Lily and her sisters. They went to Switzerland and then Israel, where they were reunited with Imi.

Lily got married to her husband Shmuel and together, they lived in Israel for two decades before moving to England, where they stayed for the rest of their lives. Together, they had two daughters and a son, 10 grandchildren, 38 great-grandchildren, and a great-great-grandson, who was born this past year.

Getting Lily’s Story Out into the World

For years, Lily would go around, talking about the Holocaust so that it wouldn’t be forgotten. She figured that was the reason God kept her alive. Then, when the pandemic hit, she had to stay at home, like everyone else, and her work stopped.

“I was 16 at the time, and she was 96, and it was harder for her to share her stories,” Dov said. “I realized that if I don’t do it now, she will go to the grave with them.”

 

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After a few months in lockdown, Dov was finally able to meet up with his great-grandmother, and that’s when he recorded her testimony. It took off, garnering 4.2 million likes and more than 28,000 comments on TikTok alone.

“The best way you can teach people is through eyewitness testimony,” Dov said. “When you hear that 6 million people died in the Holocaust, it’s a hard number to grasp, but when you hear Lily’s story, just one story, you can start to understand. As her great-grandson, I knew that of course I had to help her tell her story. If I didn’t do it, who would?”

After posting the first video, the duo kept going, putting up videos frequently on TikTok and Instagram, educating followers on the Holocaust and telling more of Lily’s own story. Together, they also dressed up for Purim, wished people a “Shabbat Shalom,” and put out a memoir called, “Lily's Promise: Holding On to Hope Through Auschwitz and Beyond―A Story for All Generations,” which became an instant New York Times bestseller.

Dov’s platform of choice for posting videos of Lily was TikTok, which is known for spreading antisemitism, Holocaust denial, and anti-Zionism. Rather than running away from it, he wanted to make sure that her voice was on it.

“At first, we started on Twitter, but then we moved to TikTok. She laughed and said, ‘I can do it, but I am not dancing.’” Dov said. “We used TikTok to share her important messages not only on the Holocaust, but also on building a large Jewish family and keeping her faith. In life, everything can be used for good or bad, and we’ve seen how bad TikTok can be for Holocaust distortion and denial and antisemitism. Most young people get their news on TikTok. I thought it was important to reach them before the Holocaust deniers and distorters do.”

While it’s difficult to educate someone in 30 seconds, Dov hopes that once viewers see one video, they will want to click on more videos or read the book to keep on learning.

“We had a lot of people message us saying that they didn’t know about the Holocaust or understand it,” he said. “There was one famous sports player in the UK who was seen as antisemitic, so we invited him to come and meet my great-grandmother. She showed him her number. He didn’t know what Auschwitz was, and after the meeting, he said he would go back and share the information with his community. We are so quick to judge and say someone is antisemitic, because there are so many people who hate us in the world. But this showed us that education can work.”

Lily’s Legacy Lives On

Through her work online and off, in 2023, Lily was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire by King Charles III – who, upon Lily’s passing, released this heartfelt statement: “As a survivor of the unmentionable horrors of the Holocaust, I am so proud that she later found a home in Britain where she continued to tell the world of the horrendous atrocities she had witnessed, as a permanent reminder for our generation – and, indeed, for future generations – of the depths of depravity and evil to which humankind can fall, when reason, compassion and truth are abandoned. Alongside other Holocaust survivors she became an integral part of the fabric of our nation; her extraordinary resilience and courage an example to us all, which will never be forgotten.”

Dov is certain that Lily will continue to uplift others even though she is gone.

“She was a fighter and survivor in every single sense of the word,” he said. “She not only survived Auschwitz, but also cancer and COVID and two broken hips, and she lost her eyesight towards the end. She kept going and never said, ‘Why me?’ There was never one ounce of anger or questioning God. She continued her life with purpose, dignity, honor, kindness, and love. The love she showed others is unparalleled.”

In a post-October 7 world, while there are still hostages being held in Gaza, Israelis are displaced from their homes, the war rages on, and antisemitism is still rampant, Jews especially need inspiration. According to Dov, Lily’s story offers just that.

“My great-grandmother was in the worst hell on earth, and then she was there in Tel Aviv when the state of Israel was declared after 2,000 years of wanting to return to our homeland,” Dov said. “She had hope – a hope that will never die, and instead, will always live on.”