A SURVIVOR of the Nazi Holocaust has compared Home Secretary Suella Braverman’s language towards asylum-seekers to Nazi rhetoric against Jews before millions were slaughtered in gas chambers.

Ms Braverman’s description of refugees fleeing wars and persecution as “swarms” and “an invasion” were quoted by 81-year-old Joan Salter when she confronted the Home Secretary at a Q&A session at the MP’s Fareham constituency in Hampshire.

Ms Salter escaped Nazi-occupied Europe as a child in the 1940s before being finding refuge in Britain. 

She is involved in Holocaust education with organisations including Britain’s National Holocaust Centre and the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust.

In the Q&A, she said that hearing the Home Secretary “describe refugees as ‘swarms’ and an ‘invasion’” reminded her “of the language used to dehumanise and justify the murder of my family and millions of others.” 

She asked Ms Braverman why she “feels the need to use that kind of language?”

But Ms Braverman refused to apologise for her inflammatory language and said she will “not shy away from saying we have a problem of people exploiting [the UK’s] generosity, breaking our laws and undermining our system.”

Ms Salter said: “I am deeply disturbed by Suella Braverman’s hateful and dehumanising rhetoric. 

“Hearing powerful politicians describing human beings as ‘swarms’ reminds me of what I fled in the 1940s. 

“After the Holocaust, the UK government pledged to protect people fleeing war, torture and persecution, so that the horrors that befell my family and innumerable others were never repeated. 

“Words have consequences: rather than fuelling hatred towards refugees, this government should ensure this country remains a place of sanctuary for those in need.”