Holocaust survivor Chaim Ferster dies at 94

Chaim Ferster, a Polish-Jewish Holocaust survivor who spent time in eight concentration camps, has died.

Ferster died Monday in Manchester, England, from pneumonia and a kidney infection, surrounded by his three sons and other family members, the BBC reported. He was 94.

He was born in Sosnowiec, Poland, in an Orthodox Jewish family. In 1943, the Nazis forced him to leave his home, and he spent time in concentration camps in Germany and Poland, including Auschwitz and Buchenwald.

Ferster, his sister Manya and a cousin were the only members of their family to survive the Holocaust. Manya is now 92.

Karen Pollock, Chief Executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust, said: ‘Chaim Ferster survived the worst horrors known to man, losing almost his entire family. After liberation he came to Britain and rebuilt his life at the heart of the Manchester community and in his later years he dedicated himself to sharing his story of pain and loss with the next generation. He reminds us that the eyewitnesses to the Holocaust will not be with us forever and that it is up to all of us to keep their legacies alive.’

After World War II, Ferster moved to England, where he found work repairing sewing machines. He later set up “a series of successful businesses,” according to the BBC.

Ferster lectured about the Holocaust in schools and colleges.

“His greatest fear was that people would forget the horrors of the Holocaust,” his son Stuart told the BBC.

On Monday, the Greater Manchester Police shared a video of Ferster playing the Israeli national anthem, “Hatikvah,” on the violin during a Jan. 27 visit to its headquarters on International Holocaust Remembrance Day.