Liliana Segre facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Senator for life
Liliana Segre
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Segre in 2018
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| Member of the Senate of the Republic | |
| Life tenure 19 January 2018 |
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| Appointed by | Sergio Mattarella |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 10 September 1930 Milan, Kingdom of Italy |
| Political party | Independent |
| Spouse |
Alfredo Belli Paci
(m. 1951; d. 2007) |
| Children | 3 |
| Alma mater | Sapienza University of Rome University of Bergamo University of Trieste University of Verona LUMSA University |
| Known for | Holocaust survivor |
Liliana Segre (born 10 September 1930) is an Italian woman who survived the Holocaust. She was named a senator for life by Italy's President, Sergio Mattarella, in 2018. This honor was given for her amazing contributions to society.
Liliana was born in Milan in 1930 to a Jewish family. In 1938, she was kicked out of her school because of new rules called the Italian Racial Laws. In 1943, when she was 13, she and her family were arrested and sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp. Liliana was the only one in her family to survive. After World War II ended in 1945, she returned to Milan. For many years, she didn't talk about her experiences. But in the 1990s, she began sharing her story, especially with young students.
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Liliana Segre's Early Life
Liliana grew up in Milan with her father, Alberto, and her grandparents. Her mother passed away when Liliana was very young. Her family was not very religious. Liliana only truly understood she was Jewish when the Italian Racial Laws came out in 1938. These laws meant she was forced to leave her school.
As the persecution of Jewish people in Italy grew worse, her father hid her at a friend's house. They used fake papers to try and stay safe. On December 10, 1943, Liliana and her father tried to escape to Switzerland. However, the Swiss authorities turned them away.
Arrest and Deportation
On December 11, 1943, Liliana and her father were arrested by fascists in the province of Varese. She was only thirteen years old. After six days in a prison in Varese, she was moved to Como and then to Milan. She stayed in a Milan prison for 40 days.
On January 30, 1944, Liliana was sent from platform 21 of the Milan Central railway station to the Auschwitz concentration camp. She arrived seven days later. She was immediately separated from her father, Alberto. She never saw him again; he was killed on April 27, 1944. Her grandparents were also arrested and sent to Auschwitz, where they were killed on June 30, 1944.
Life in Auschwitz
At Auschwitz, Liliana was given the number 75190, which was tattooed on her arm. She was forced to work in a factory that made ammunition for about a year. During her time there, she went through three more "selections," where prisoners were chosen for death.
In January 1945, as the camp was being emptied, she had to go on a "death march." This was a long, forced walk towards the Ravensbrück concentration camp in Germany. After weeks of terrible conditions, she was marched to another camp called Malchow concentration camp. She was finally freed by the Red Army on May 1, 1945. Out of 776 Italian children aged 14 or younger sent to Auschwitz, only 35 survived.
After the Holocaust
After the Nazi Holocaust, Liliana moved to the Marche region to live with her maternal grandparents. They were the only other family members who had survived. In 1948, she met Alfredo Belli Paci. He was a Catholic prisoner who had also survived Nazi camps. They got married in 1951 and had three children.
Sharing Her Story
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For a long time, Liliana did not want to talk about her experiences in the concentration camps. Like many children who survived the Holocaust, returning to a normal life was very hard. She also remembered that no one seemed ready to listen to her story back then. In 1996, she said:
- "It was very hard for my relatives to live with a wounded animal like me. I was a young girl who came back from hell. People expected me to be obedient and just accept things. I quickly learned to keep my sad memories and deep sadness to myself. No one understood me. I had to fit into a world that wanted to forget the painful past. A world that wanted to start over, eager for fun and being carefree."
Breaking the Silence
It was only in the early 1990s that Liliana decided to speak out. Since then, she has visited schools and conferences. She tells young people her story. She does this for the millions of others who shared her experience but could never tell their own tales. In 1997, she was part of a documentary film called Memoria.
In 2004, Liliana was interviewed for a book called Like a frog in winter. This book shared conversations with three women who survived Auschwitz. In 2005, her story was told in more detail in a book called Survived in Auschwitz: Liliana Segre among the last witnesses of the Shoah. She also gave a long video interview in 2005 for an online archive about forced labor.
In 2009, Liliana lent her voice to a project called 'Tales of those who have survived'. This project collected stories from almost all Italian survivors of Nazi concentration camps who were still alive. In the same year, she was in a film-documentary called Binario 21 (Platform 21). This film was inspired by a poem about the murdered Jewish people.
Liliana has also received special degrees from several universities:
- In 2008, the University of Trieste gave her an honorary degree in Law.
- In 2010, the University of Verona gave her an honorary degree in Pedagogy.
- In 2020, LUMSA University gave her an honorary degree in International relations.
Senator for Life
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On January 19, 2018, which was 80 years after the Italian Racial Laws were passed, the President of Italy, Sergio Mattarella, made Liliana Segre a senator for life. This was because of her amazing contributions to society.
Liliana is the fourth woman to hold this important position in Italy. As her first action in the Senate, she suggested creating a special committee. This committee would work to fight racism, antisemitism, and hate. Other senators for life supported her idea. On October 30, 2019, the Senate voted to approve the creation of this committee.
Facing Threats
On November 7, 2019, Liliana started receiving many threats on social media. Because of this, the Prefect of Milan assigned her a bodyguard to keep her safe.
On January 29, 2020, Liliana was invited to speak at the European Parliament. This was for International Holocaust Remembrance Day and the 75th anniversary of Auschwitz's liberation. She received a standing ovation from everyone there.
On February 18, 2020, she received another special degree, a PhD honoris causa in European history, from the Sapienza University of Rome. She dedicated this honor to her father, Alberto, who was "killed for the guilt of being born (Jewish)."
On October 9, 2020, after 30 years of sharing her story publicly, she gave her last major public speech. She spoke to young people and told them not to blame others for their own problems. She reminded them that they are very strong. Thousands of students across Italy watched her speech online.
On February 2, 2021, the University of Pisa gave Liliana an honorary degree in peace and conflict studies.
Before the 2022 Italian general election, Liliana Segre suggested that Giorgia Meloni, the leader of a party called Brothers of Italy, should remove a symbol from her party's logo. This symbol, the "tricolour flame," is seen by some as a neo-fascist symbol. The Democratic Party supported Liliana's view. However, the party leader ignored the request and kept the symbol. On October 13, 2022, Liliana Segre led the Senate session where the new President of the Senate was announced.
See also
- Children in the Holocaust
- List of Holocaust survivors
