Andrew Garfield in tears over harrowing family history: 'They were deemed so valueless'

actor Andrew Garfield was left in tears as he delved into his Jewish ancestry in a "harrowing" episode of Who Do You Think You Are? The show finds lost connections and unfamiliar histories, as celebrities trace their family trees. Series 22 sees Ross Kemp, Aisling Bea, Will Young, Fred Sirieix, Layton Williams, Diane Morgan, and Andrew delve into their forgotten family history on the long-running show.

On Tuesday (April 22), the 41-year-old travelled to the Treblinka extermination camp in the heart of Poland where it is believed that three of his relatives lost their lives during the Second World War. The actor struggled to hold back tears as he paid tribute to his three relatives. As he gave a heartbreaking speech in their memory, he placed three stones on the memorial gravestone for the town they hailed from, named Kielce.

He said: "This is a memorial stone for the Jews from Kielce that met their ultimate fate here in Treblinka which my great-grandfather's three sisters we imagine had to have been murdered.

"Szajndia, Dworja, Basia. Their lives were deemed so valueless and the Nazi's attempted to erase even the memory of them, even their names, even any record of them. And they had succeeded in a certain ways.

"They were just normal girls, they were just normal women who just wanted a life, they wanted to live, to thrive, but this journey that we've been on has recovered my memory of them and my family's memory of them and I'm grateful for that.

"I wish I had known you better, I wish you peace," he concluded. It didn't take long before fans flooded to X - formerly known as Twitter - to pass on their sympathies to the brave actor for his heartbreaking discovery.

One user penned: "What a harrowing #whodoyouthinkyouare for #AndrewGarfield #WDYTYA." as another agreed: "I'm watching #AndrewGarfield's search for his Jewish ancestors, some of them were very probably murdered at Treblinka, but with records deliberately dstroyed by the Nazis. It's harrowing stuff. #WDYTYA."

A third echoed: "It's really sad, isn't it? You just know that for a Jewish family in Poland in the mid to late 1930s, it's not going to go well. #WDYTYA."

A fourth gushed: "This is a very moving and emotional episode of #WDYTYA, Andrew Garfield coming across yet again like such a thoroughly decent, and ver eloquent, human being."

Who Do You Think You Are? airs on Tuesdays from 9pm on BBC One or catch up on BBC iPlayer.