Listen to our elders

Tess Talks with Vera Sharav

Mar 26, 2023

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Vera Sharav is a Holocaust survivor, human rights activist and film-maker, with a new documentary film series called “Never Again is Now Global”. She is also the founder and president of the Alliance for Human Research Protection (or AHRP). AHRP serves as a watchdog organization, whose goal is to bring accountability to biomedical research.

I had the pleasure of meeting Vera in person in Nuremburg, Germany, last year at the 75th anniversary of the Nuremburg Code, where Vera issued a stark warning: what happened in Germany is now happening worldwide.

This fact is a very uncomfortable one for people. Indeed, many will dismiss it as preposterous and even offensive. But Vera is impossible to dismiss. At 86 years young, she carries with her the weight of personal experience and a lifetime of learning and endeavour.

She is a wise elder, and we would do well to sit quietly at her feet, and listen to what she has to say.

In this conversation, Vera emphasises that the Holocaust did not happen overnight. Rather, it was the culmination of years of ever-increasing persecution and abuse. She also draws clear parallels between what happened back then, and what has happened in the last three years, not least to our elders.

Our elders were culled. Sent to their deaths through a combination of abusive measures that ranged from imposing DNR notices without the family’s consent, to initiating end-of-life pathways that included the administration of Midalozam, again, without consent.

So many of our older loved ones needlessly lost their lives during the height of the Covid pandemic. So much love lost, so much wisdom.

When exploring this topic online earlier today, I was shocked at how much is written about the negatives of ageing, and how little about the positives. While it is true that dementia is increasingly common, and that one’s memory tends to decline with age, something else rather wonderful takes place in the elder brain: the branching of dendrites - the extensions that allow neurons to exchange information with each other - may actually multiply, forming entirely new connections between distance parts of the brain.

What does this mean? Simply that the elder brain is able to perceive the connections between things, and grasp the ‘big picture’. This is a kind of wisdom that the young generally do not possess - which is why traditionally, elders have been held in such high regard.

With this in mind, do watch this conversation and bask in the depth of Vera’s informed perspective and profound wisdom. Then go and watch her documentary series, which you can find here:

Please share widely!

I’m also delighted to share that Vera will be speaking in Bath at the Better Way Conference in June this year, so that we may learn more from her perspective. Do check out the conference website for more details about this event, which is titled ‘Unveiling a Better Way for Health, Freedom and Sovereignty’.