On Tuesday, as the Berkeley, California City Council held a meeting at which a Holocaust Remembrance Day proclamation was being considered, anti-Israel demonstrators bullied an 89-year-old Holocaust survivor who was sent to Dachau Concentration Camp in Nazi Germany when she was four years old.
Susanne DeWitt spoke before the council, saying, “Over six million Jews were murdered in the Holocaust and many more were left with scarred lives. I urge the Berkeley City Council to pass the Holocaust Remembrance Day proclamation because we are currently witnessing a horrendous surge in anti-Semitism. Jews are now under existential threat; the invasion by Hamas, which broke a ceasefire –”
She was interrupted by demonstrators yelling, “Time! Time!”
The moderator interceded as Dewitt stepped away from the microphone, “Okay, Ma’am. Ms. Dewitt, ladies and gentlemen, if you can, please let me facilitate the meeting.”
Permitted to continue, DeWitt stated, “ — led to the murder of 1,200 Israelis, and the brutal torture and rape of women.”
Despite the fact that Hamas’ rape and torture of women during the October 7 massacre has been well-documented, demonstrators screamed, “Lies! Lies! Lies!”
At the meeting, the demonstrators referred to “Zionist pigs,” chanted “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” called the council “cowards” and “traitors,” “spies for Israel,” “Racist Zionists who are upholding violence, apartheid, occupation,” told someone, “Get the f*** out of here, you Zionist pig,” and were warned by the moderator, “Do not circle other speakers. Back away.”
One demonstrator, face covered by a mask, declared, “This is a Zionist stronghold. The people of Berkeley love Palestine.” Another demonstrator snapped, “Being around Zionists really like gets your blood going.”
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WATCH: Yesterday, the Berkeley City Council held its final meeting before a one-month recess. The agenda of the meeting included an item on marking Holocaust Remembrance Day and funding educational programs around this commemoration. There was nothing on the meeting agenda about… pic.twitter.com/dQdmmuI2Ad
— JCRC Bay Area (@SFJCRC) March 27, 2024
WATCH: Susanne DeWitt, an 89 year-old Holocaust survivor who was arrested and sent to Dachau Concentration Camp at age 4, was repeatedly heckled by demonstrators as she spoke in favor of the City of Berkeley's Holocaust Remembrance Day proclamation. pic.twitter.com/B3mx5mjjSo
— JCRC Bay Area (@SFJCRC) March 28, 2024
DeWitt authored a book titled, “I Was Born in an Old Age Home: A Memoir.” She tells the story of growing up in Munich, Germany, being arrested at the age of four during Kristallnacht, and later being incarcerated in Dachau. Having survived, she then lived in various countries before she settled in the U.S.
“The number of prisoners incarcerated in Dachau between 1933 and 1945 exceeded 200,000. Scholars believe that at least 40,000 prisoners died there,” the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum states.