90-Year-Old Holocaust Survivor Arrested in St. Louis Over Michael Brown Protests

Lifelong Activist: Hedy Epstein protests in Cairo in 2009. Image by Haaretz

By JTA August 19, 2014

A 90-year-old Jewish Holocaust survivor has been arrested in St. Louis during protests over the shooting death of Michael Brown.

Hedy Epstein, of St. Louis, was one of nine protesters arrested Monday for blocking the entrance to the downtown St. Louis state office building that houses Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon’s office, the Nation reported.

“I’ve been doing this since I was a teenager. I didn’t think I would have to do it when I was 90,” Epstein told The Nation, as two officers walked her to a police van. “We need to stand up today so that people won’t have to do this when they’re 90.”

Epstein escaped Nazi Germany for England in 1939 on the Kindertransport. Her parents and other family members died in Auschwitz, according to her personal website.

Epstein has been active in civil rights and human rights causes as well as social justice, including fair housing, abortion rights, and antiwar activities. She also has been active in pro-Palestinian causes, including demonstrating against the security fence, Israeli settlements and the demolition of Palestinian homes.

She is a member of the Speakers Bureau of the St. Louis Holocaust Museum and Learning Center.

Michael Brown, an 18-year-old unarmed black teenager, was shot and killed by police in Ferguson, Mo. on Aug. 9 after being stopped for walking in the street.

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