Holocaust survivor slams TikTok anti-vaxxer who made Shoah comparison
A Holocaust survivor is using TikTok to push back against anti-vaxxers who compare vaccine mandates to the genocide.
86-year-old Gidon Lev made waves with a post in response to a user who posted a video of herself with a buzz cut, saying it was her “first day at an unvaccinated camp.”
“Shame on you,” Lev said, using TikTok’s duet function. “Are you trying to look like a Holocaust survivor because you don’t want to be vaccinated?”
“I was four years in a concentration camp,” Lev said, holding up a six-pointed yellow felt star blazoned with the word “Jude.”
“Have the day you deserve,” the Israeli octogenarian concluded.
@thetrueadventures ##duet with @Carollynn Xavier ##holocaustsurvivor ##stopantisemitism ##foryoupage ##fypシ ##fyp ##shoah ##antivaxxer ##comeon ##notfunny
Lev’s retort to the anti-vaxxer, Carollynn Xavier, had been viewed more than four million times as of press time. Xavier, who posted the video to which Lev responded under the username @carollynnthechristian, has since made her TikTok account private.
Born in the former Czech Republic, Lev was imprisoned in the Theresienstadt concentration camp between 1941 and 1945, when he was between 6 and 10 years old, according to his website. He lost 26 family members in the Holocaust, including his father and grandparents.
On TikTok, Lev posts videos aiming to combat antisemitism and misinformation about the Holocaust. He shares the account with his partner, Julie Gray, who helped write his memoir, “The True Adventures of Gidon Lev.”
And although his subject matter can be serious, he takes it on with a smile. His TikTok bio? “Holocaust Survivor & Rascal.”
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