Watch: Auschwitz and Covid survivor, 97: ‘I chose life – I cannot give up’

A 97-year-old Auschwitz survivor who made a “miraculous recovery” from Covid delivered a message of tolerance this week.

Lily Ebert appeared on Good Morning Britain on Monday after falling “really ill” with the infection a month ago.

Her great-grandson Dov, 17, took to Twitter last week to say Lily “has just recovered from Covid- 19. Today she went on her first walk in a month after making a miraculous recovery.” His message was retweeted almost 17 thousand times, reaching 14 million people, and leading to the pair being invited onto the programme.

Asked by co-host Suzanna Reid how she felt, Lily said: “I feel very well. I got it about 3 or 4 weeks ago. The worst thing is you get very tired and you can not really properly think.”

She was immunised against Covid last month, and said: “I am very excited” to get the second dose “because I know how important it is.”

Dov’s viral tweet:

After recovering from Covid and ahead of Holocaust Memorial Day on 27 January, she said she “could chose life and carry on, or give up. I chose life, and I cannot give up. I have to carry on to fight.”

Speaking of the evils of the Holocaust, she said it is “what can happen when we are not tolerant to each other. That is the main thing to understand”.

Dov, who uses social media to tell her story to an audience of thousands, said: “I always knew that it would become my responsibility. She isn’t going to be around for ever. This really is the last moment to hear from Holocaust survivors.”

Saying his great-grandmother was a “remarkable lady”, he added that “she’s really such a fighter and such an inspiration. I think people loved the tweet because it gave people such hope in such tough times.”

Lily had been “really ill” with Covid, he said, but “while there were some dark moments, the family was sure she would continue fighting and never give up.”

Lily and Dov are working on a book that will be published by Macmillan in September called ‘Lily’s Promise’.