The 88-year-old Holocaust survivor who was burned during an attack by a man armed with a "makeshift flamethrower" had a message on Tuesday for the rest of America: "We are better than this."

In her first words spoken publicly since Sunday's gruesome attack on a group of demonstrators advocating for the return of Israeli hostages in Gaza, Barbara Steinmetz told NBC News that what happened "has nothing to do with the Holocaust, it has to do with a human being that wants to burn other people."

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Steinmetz said she and other members of the group Run for Their Lives were "peacefully" demonstrating when they were suddenly attacked.

During a brief interview, Steinmetz still appeared to be rattled by the ordeal.

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