Holocaust survivor lashes out at anti-vaxxers as she compares them to Nazis

A HOLOCAUST survivor has launched a scathing attack on anti-vaxxers, comparing them to Nazis.

Holocaust survivors feature in paintings commissioned by Charles

Today (January 27), marks Holocaust Memorial Day and one survivor, Margot Friedlaender, urged the younger generation to remember the Nazi genocide. In her speech, she denounced the use of some anti-vax protesters using the yellow star that Jews were forced to wear.

She told EU lawmakers in Brussels during the 77th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz: "Today, I see the memory of what happened being abused for political reasons, sometimes even derided and trampled all over.

"Incredulous, I had to watch at the age of 100 years how symbols of our exclusion by the Nazis, such as the so-called 'Judenstern', are shamelessly used on the open street by the new enemies of democracy, to present themselves - whilst living in the middle of a democracy - as victims."

Ms Friedlaender was referring to demonstrators at anti-vaccination protests who pinned yellow star badges to their clothes.

These are reminiscent of the cloth badges the Nazis forced Jews to wear to mark them as outsiders.

Anti-vaxxer wearing the Yellow Star

Anti-vaxxer wearing the Yellow Star (Image: Getty)

Holocaust survivor Margot Friedlaender

Holocaust survivor Margot Friedlaender (Image: Getty)

According to a report by the Israeli government, these protesters are stoking global anti-Semitism.

Ms Friedlaender, 100, urged people not to "turn a blind eye" to the past and said people need to be "vigilant".

She told the European Parliament: "I have returned to talk with you, to reach out my hand to you, to ask you to bear witness in place of us who will not be able to do this much longer.

"We cannot change what happened, but it must never happen again.

READ MORE: Lily, 98, tells Charles how she survived horrors of Holocaust

Anti-vaxxers using Yellow Star

Anti-vaxxers using Yellow Star (Image: Getty)

"This is why we have to be vigilant today - and not turn a blind eye as in the past."

Following the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, there have been several anti-vax protests across the world and in the UK.

In July last year, one anti-vax protester in the UK likened NHS nurses and doctors to Nazis executed after World War 2.

Kate Shemirani, who lost her job as a nurse over her beliefs, told a rally in London: "At the Nuremberg Trials, the doctors and nurses stood trial and they hung.

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The Yellow Star used during World War 2

The Yellow Star used during World War 2 (Image: Getty)

"If you are a doctor or a nurse, now is the time to get off that bus.

"Get off it and stand with us, the people, all around the world they are rising."

Police launched a probe against her after she claimed doctors and nurses are like Nazi doctors and should face "Nuremberg trials".

She shockingly claimed vaccination teams should be renamed "death squads" and that the NHS should be referred to as the "new Auschwitz".

Anti-vaxxer wearing the Yellow Star

Anti-vaxxer wearing the Yellow Star (Image: Getty)

The Met said in a statement given to Sky News in July: "We are aware of video circulating online showing a speech that occurred during a rally in Trafalgar Square.

"Officers are carrying out inquiries to establish whether any offences have been committed.

"No arrests have been made."

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