Readers respond to an article by Joan Salter, a Holocaust survivor, which condemned the home secretary’s language about asylum seekers
I would like to endorse Joan Salter’s brave words (I confronted Suella Braverman because as a Holocaust survivor I know what words of hate can do, 17 January). I too was a child immigrant – I came here in 1958 from Poland, when rabid nationalism was making life for Jews difficult again. Jewish people were again being identified, discriminated against and humiliated. “You killed Jesus Christ” was the accusation they shouted at me in the park where I played. So “swarms” of us left.
We “invaded” the UK, Australia, Canada, the US and Israel. Having done so, I would hope that we contributed to the workforce and welfare of these countries. My father became an eminent academic, a fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, my mother was a talented medical biochemist, and I became a researcher and teacher. Read more of what became of my extended family in my recent book Never Tell Anyone You’re Jewish.
