Last November, my mother organised a trip to meet a 93-year-old Holocaust survivor named Chaim Ferster, who is truly inspirational.
I was extremely interested at school in learning about the
Second World War and the persecution of the Jews throughout the 1930s.
Having recently visited Anne Frank's house in Amsterdam, I thought it would be fascinating to see the war through another person's eyes. I wanted to hear the real story from a survivor.
Mr Ferster welcomed us into his home and I listened intently, and was amazed and shocked to find out how much he had physically endured and what horrors he had witnessed - all because of the cruelty perpetrated by other people. He had been imprisoned in eight concentration camps, including Auschwitz and Buchenwald.
While being held as a prisoner, he had experienced sheer brutality and hard labour in temperatures of minus 25 degrees celsius.
Mr Ferster inspired me to never give up, no matter how bleak the situation may seem or how tough it is to keep going. He has altered my mind-set and has changed the way I look at life.
I hope to live my life to the full as he has fulfilled his life, even though I will hopefully never go through such horrors.
The hospitality and kindness he showed was remarkable, considering we were complete strangers to him. Afterwards, he insisted we both stayed for lunch with his family.
Mr Ferster is due to receive a British Empire Medal this summer. He is a truly remarkable man who deserves to be widely admired.
