“I represent today the six million Holocaust victims who were murdered just because they were Jewish. I demand the world remember what happened only 80 years ago”
New York, NY – January 27, 2025 – Holocaust survivor and educator Marianne Miller delivered a speech today at the United Nations General Assembly, marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day and commemorating the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau.
Born in Budapest during World War II, Miller endured the horrors of the Holocaust, including the forced separation of her family and the murder of multiple close relatives. Despite the unimaginable hardships, she survived and later dedicated her life to educating future generations about the Holocaust and the dangers of hatred and intolerance.
Miller’s journey to the UN began following her participation in the 2024 International March of the Living, where she shared her story of survival with thousands of participants joining commemorative marches through both Budapest in Hungary and Auschwitz-Birkenau in Poland. There, she expressed her dream of addressing world leaders at the UN to tell her story. Following the march, Revital Yakin-Krakovsky, Deputy CEO of the International March of the Living, approached Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon, who worked to make the dream a reality.
Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon said: “Memory does not sustain itself – it must be protected, fought for, and preserved so that even those who threaten it cannot erase it. These images, testimonies, and records are for future generations so that when denial grows louder, the truth will stand as an unwavering beacon of justice. I would like to thank Marianne Miller and her family for their presence and their contribution to preserving memory and fighting for justice. The Holocaust is not just a historical memory – it is a call to action to protect the Jewish people and combat antisemitism for the sake of social and democratic values. We will not forget.”
Revital Yakin-Krakovsky, Deputy CEO of the International March of the Living, said: “Marianne is a living voice of hope, optimism, and strength. She carries the testimony of the murdered and the message of triumph from the survivor generation. Holocaust survivors are leaving us, and it is of immense importance to hear them, in their voices, on the world’s most prominent stages, standing tall against Holocaust deniers and distorters, saying ‘We were there.’ I thank Israel’s Ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, for his genuine attentiveness and dedicated efforts, which helped Marianne fulfill her dream of addressing the UN General Assembly today.”
Below is the full speech, which Miller delivered accompanied by her four children and seven grandchildren:
“My name is Marianne Miller, and I am a Holocaust survivor. I represent the remaining Holocaust survivors, who are getting older, weaker, and sicker, leaving us day by day. I was a baby during the Holocaust, but I can still say it, clear and loud:
I have been there.
My parents, Alfred and Violetta Nobel, were a young couple deeply in love. Before my father was taken to a labor camp, my mother wanted to become pregnant. My father was against it. ‘You don’t bring a child into a world where sure death is waiting for them everywhere,’ he said. But my mother, so in love, replied, ‘Maybe one of us will stay alive, and they will have a memory of the other.’
Under these conditions, I came into the world – a world where death awaited me at every corner.
Budapest, 1944. A freezing December night. Mothers are marching with their babies in deadly silence, heading toward the railway station. The destination: Auschwitz.
Then, something unprecedented happened. With a sudden movement, my mother tore off her yellow star and ran out of the line, holding me in her arms. She hid under a gate, thinking no one had seen her.
But a young Hungarian Nazi chased after her, shouting and aiming his rifle at her chest. ‘How dare you take off the yellow star?’ he roared. ‘Now I’m going to kill your child and make you watch. Then you’ll go back to the line without your baby.’
There was no point in begging for mercy. All my mother had was a thin golden wedding ring. She held it out to him, saying: ‘Look! Look! You kill people and take their jewelry, but this ring is different – it is not covered in blood. It shines because you didn’t murder anyone for it. Take it. There is a blessing on it. You gave life to a mother and her child. Take it!’
Maybe, in that one moment, he found a spark of humanity within himself. He didn’t follow her. He let her run, and we were saved.
My father’s story is no less remarkable.
Taken to the hunger camp of Bergen-Belsen, he survived on one slice of bread per week. He had the willpower to divide it into seven pieces, eating one each day. At liberation, he weighed only 35 kilos – the weight of a child.
Most of my family was not as fortunate. Many were shot into the Danube River. My mother’s sister Nicolet, a partisan, was executed. My cousin Gabor, just 13 years old, was killed – he could have become a world-famous poet.
Today, I stand here having lost my husband, Yoel, two months ago.
He was my best friend for 58 years. As a child, he survived the Terezin concentration camp, becoming a father figure to his baby brother.
Last April, I was honored to lead the March of the Living in Budapest and Auschwitz. I was deeply shaken by the mountains of shoes, glasses, and hair left behind. Six million lives were brutally taken simply for being Jewish.
I came here today with my children and grandchildren – my personal answer to Hitler.
Antisemitism is lifting its ugly head again across the world. We must remember: God created people to love, not to hate. God wants to be proud of mankind, not ashamed of it.
I represent today the six million Holocaust victims who were murdered just because they were Jewish. I demand the world remember what happened only 80 years ago.
Never. Never. Never, let it happen again.
Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, to Ambassador Danny Danon and President Isaac Herzog for making my presence here today possible.”
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For more information, please contact Shani Jaffe at [email protected]
