Big Sonia: Together TV to air Holocaust survivors’ mission to end hate

Together TV will be airing the poignant documentary Big Sonia on Tuesday 03 and Saturday 07 August. The programme follows Holocaust survivor Sonia Warshawski on her journey to inspire countless people to feel their trauma and to raise awareness of what hate can do.

After a lifetime of keeping her story to herself, the 91-year-old decided it was time to share the experiences she had faced in the death camps during the Second World War. During the movie, when reflecting on her decision to communicate the horrors she faced as a teenager; Sonia says:

“I was very naïve (to think) that now people will really take hate out from their hearts and respect you for what you are as a human being, but I was very, very wrong…. It tortures me deeply when I hear, and I see (that) we’re going backwards, and the hate is still growing more than I ever would dream. So, you go on and become very disappointed in the world… speaking up is not enough.”

With the recent rise in violent and verbal anti-Semitic attacks around the world, it is prudent to remind the public of how far hate can take us. In the UK alone, 460 incidences were reported between May and June 2021 – which is significantly higher than all monthly totals since records began in the 1980s. It has also been announced there has been a 75% increase in overt anti-Semitism in the USA this year.*

Throughout the film, Sonia not only shares her personal story but through multi-generational conversations, she explores what it means to be a survivor and how trauma affects families and generations. This encourages the viewer to ask themselves to question whether trauma defines you and whether your past can make you stronger.

Big Sonia will be aired as part of Together TV’s GameChangers strand of documentaries, which will run weekly until the end of August 2021. GameChangers aim to honour the movers and shakers who want to make the world a better place than they found it. It will be celebrating the radicals, rebels and innovators who have changed the world. They see things differently, demand progress and push against the status quo – from aeronautics to activism, engineering to empowerment.

Together TV is on Freeview 82, Sky 170, Virgin 269 and Freesat 164, along with being on-demand on My5 and social videos on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and DailyMotion.