Margot Friedländer, a 102-year-old Holocaust survivor, arrived at the German Film Awards ceremony and warned about the rise of antisemitism in Germany, as well as throughout the world.
"When I returned (to Germany) 14 years ago I didn't imagine that what is happening now would happen - this is how it started," she told filmmakers and media.
She also said: "There are many storytellers in this room. You have a responsibility to harness the power of cinema to ensure that what happened never happens again."
"I ask you to help us so that history does not repeat itself. Now it is in everyone's hands. We cannot change what happened, but we can change what will happen. It must not happen again. I’m asking you - be human."
She was answered with a resounding ovation.
Friedländer was born in 1921 in Berlin where she hid throughout the war. In 1943 her mother and brother were captured, and she was captured in mid-1944.
After being captured, she was sent to the Theresienstadt concentration camp and survived. After the Holocaust, she left Germany for the USA but returned to Germany in 2010 to engage in discussions with young Germans about her experiences during the Nazi regime.