1769 SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Pocket

I first heard?about iconic human rights activist Hedy Epstein’s arrest while I was watching the Rachel Maddow Show Monday night. The story of a 90-year-old woman being arrested while protesting is crazy enough. The fact that police arrested a 90-year-old Holocaust survivor makes it an outrage. But even more interesting is the backstory.

Hedy Epstein, a 90 y.o. Holocaust survivor, was among the those arrested for blocking Nixon office bldg. #Ferguson pic.twitter.com/s4y68zFFrF — Steven Hsieh ??? (@stevenjhsieh) August 18, 2014

A friend of mine shared a?video with me this morning of an undated interview with Epstein. In the interview, Epstein?tells the story of how she became involved in the civil rights battle in the U.S. in?1948 when she got a job New York City. Epstein’s coworker was a black woman and Epstein was confused as to why the woman continuously declined the lunch invitations that Epstein extended daily. When the woman finally explained that black people and white people couldn’t eat lunch at the same restaurants, Epstein was horrified. She asked the woman:

“Isn’t somebody doing something about this?”

The woman told Epstein about the NAACP and other organizations. ?The rest is…well, history.

Hedy Epstein was born in Freiburg, Germany in 1924. From her website:

On May 18, 1939, Hedy went to England on a children’s transport. Five hundred children were on this transport, part of the almost 10,000 children that England took in between December 1938 and September 1, 1939, the beginning of World War II. Hedy’s parents had tried for many years to leave Germany as a family, but were unsuccessful, due to emigration restrictions in various countries around the world. Finally, after consulting with the 14-year-old Hedy, her parents found a way out for her on the children’s transport. Hedy never saw her family again.

Epstein spent the rest of the war in England, where she attended school and worked in a factory that produced war materials. After the war, she returned to Germany to work for the U.S. government at the U.S. Civil Censorship Division and later aide Allied forces at the Nuremberg Medical Trial. She immigrated to the U.S. in 1948 where she had her epiphany with her African-American coworker.

From her website:

Her causes have included fair housing, abortion rights, and antiwar activities. As a peace delegate, Hedy journeyed to Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Cambodia in 1989. Hedy visited the Israeli Occupied West Bank five times since 2003, to witness the facts on the ground. She participated in several non-violent demonstrations, together with Israelis, Palestinians & other internationals, in opposition to Israel’s occupation of Palestinian land, the 25-foot high cement wall, and the demolition of Palestinian homes and olive orchards.

She is the author of an autobiography,?Erinnern ist nicht genug: Autobiographie von Hedy Epstein (“Remembering Is Not Enough: The Autobiography of Hedy Epstein”). I daresay that Hedy Epstein’s life story is nowhere near over. Epstein is also a vocal supporter of the Free Gaza Movement.

Epstein was arrested with eight other people in St. Louis on Monday for “failure to disperse” during a protest of Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon’s decision to summons the National Guard to Ferguson. Is she outraged? Nope. Not one bit. From The Nation:

?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.?

Watch the video below. Let us know your thoughts at the Liberal America Facebook page. Sign up for our free daily newsletter to receive more great stories like this one.



Tiffany Willis is the founder and editor-in-chief of Liberal America. An unapologetic member of the Christian Left, she has spent most of her career actively working with ?the least of these? and disadvantaged and oppressed populations. She’s passionate about their struggles. To stay on top of topics she discusses,?like her?Facebook page,?follow her on Twitter, or?connect with her via LinkedIn. She also has?a?grossly neglected personal blog?and a?literary quotes blog that is a labor of love. Find her somewhere and join the discussion.