Obituary

Lily Ebert, Holocaust survivor who reached millions on social media, dies at 100

A native of Hungary, Ebert survived Auschwitz and built a family — first in the new State of Israel, then in the UK — and in recent years became a social media superstar

Holocaust survivor Lily Ebert and Dov Forman, authors of 'Lily's Promise.' (Courtesy)
Holocaust survivor Lily Ebert and Dov Forman, authors of 'Lily's Promise.' (Courtesy)

Iconic Holocaust survivor Lily Ebert, who became a global sensation by utilizing social media for Holocaust education, died this week at age 100, her great-grandson posted Wednesday.

She passed away peacefully at her London home, surrounded by family members, wrote Dov Forman in a Facebook post.

Having lost her mother, younger sister, and brother in the Holocaust, Ebert dedicated her life to Holocaust education in honor of those who perished, reaching hundreds of millions over the world, he wrote.

Despite her age, she embraced social media with the help of Forman. The two collaborated on TikTok to promote lessons learned from the Holocaust, gaining a massive following.

“Never has a promise been so profoundly fulfilled as hers,” he wrote. “She taught us the power of tolerance and faith, the importance of speaking out, and the need to stand against prejudice.”

Surviving Auschwitz-Birkenau, where she had been sent in July 1944, Ebert was able to rebuild her life and went on to establish a family of three children, ten grandchildren, 38 great-grandchildren, and one great-grandchild. She was predeceased by one of her daughters.

The final photo of the Ebert children all together, in 1943. From left to right: Piri, Berta, Imi, Lily and Rene. Brother Bela is not pictured. (Courtesy)

She told her remarkable story in “Lily’s Promise: How I Survived Auschwitz and Found the Strength to Live,” and received several awards for her work on Holocaust education.

Born in Bonyhad, Hungary, on December 29, 1923, Ebert lived with her parents and five younger siblings, until she lost her father to pneumonia in 1942.

When the Nazis invaded in 1944, 20-year-old Ebert and her family were ripped from their home and deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau. The only sibling not sent to Auschwitz was Ebert’s brother Imi, who was instead forced into one of Hungary’s Jewish labor battalions.

Upon arriving at the concentration camp, Ebert was separated from her brother Bela, sister Berta and mother Nina who were immediately sent to the gas chambers.

She and her two remaining sisters, Renee and Piri, were selected to work in the camp for four months. After this time, they were transferred to a munitions factory. They worked in the factory up until 1945 when, during a death march, they were liberated by Allied Forces.

After spending time in an American-run displaced persons camp, Ebert and her sisters sought shelter in Switzerland. However, even there, she did not feel welcome. She tried to teach the people she met about the Holocaust, but they wouldn’t listen, she recounted.

Lily Ebert holds photos of her sisters on a visit to Auschwitz. (Courtesy)

“The world did not want to know” she said in an interview with The Times of Israel in 2021. Her stories were unwanted, her desire for change was unwanted, she was unwanted. Eventually, she decided that staying in Europe was no longer an option.

Aided by Agudat Yisrael in 1946, the three sisters immigrated to British Mandate Palestine where Ebert met and married her husband Shmuel, with whom she had three children. In 1953, Ebert was finally reunited with her brother Imi, who also survived the war.

In 1967 Ebert and her family moved back to Europe, settling in London where she remained until her death.

In recent years, Ebert and her great-grandson took to TikTok and Instagram, answering questions and educating followers about the Holocaust. Between the two platforms, the pair had more than 2 million followers, and accrued more than a billion individual views.

Aside from her popularity on social media, Ebert had made waves on a governmental level as well. She was awarded the British Empire Medal in 2016 for her work in Holocaust education and awareness.

In 2022, she was awarded the Knight’s Cross of the Order of Merit of Hungary and was the winner of the inaugural Simon Wiesenthal Prize. She was also given an award for civic engagement against antisemitism by the Austrian parliament.

In 2023 she was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire for her services to Holocaust education.

Tributes to Ebert poured in upon news of her death. Michael Newman, chief executive of the Association of Jewish Refugees, called Ebert “a trailblazing advocate for Holocaust education” whose “zest for life will burn brightly in our thoughts.”

Karen Pollock, who heads the Holocaust Educational Trust, hailed Ebert as “the epitome of strength and determination.”

Chief Rabbi of the UK Sir Ephraim Mirvis, writing on X, called Ebert “a beacon of resilience, courage, and unwavering faith in difficult times.

“She emerged from the unspeakable horrors of Auschwitz, not with bitterness or cynicism, but with a promise: to bear witness, to educate, and to inspire,” he said.

“In a world that needs to learn the lessons of the Shoah more than ever, may the memory of Lily’s extraordinary life forever be a blessing.”

Among others eulogizing Ebert in statements were the Embassy of Hungary in the UK, Jewish historian Simon Sebag Montefiore, British MP Priti Patel, and former Israeli government spokesman Eylon Levy.

Ebert’s funeral will be held on Wednesday at 3:45 p.m. London time, and on Thursday her body will be buried in Israel. Her family will be sitting shiva in London and in Jerusalem through Friday afternoon.

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