Tributes are being paid to Bernard Levy, a “gentle” and “kind” liberator of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, who has passed away.

At the age of just 19, Bernard was a corporal in the British Military Government. He and his fellow soldiers liberated Bergen-Belsen, where it is estimated that over 50,000 Jews, Czechs, Poles, anti-Nazi Christians, homosexuals, and Roma were murdered by the Nazis.

He was one of the first soldiers to arrive, and his role was in the relief operation; due to rampant typhoid in the horrendously overcrowded camp, one of his main jobs was spraying everyone going in and out with DTT pesticide in an attempt to reduce the spread of the disease.

By the time the army arrived at the camp, many of the estimated 60,000 survivors were just clinging on to life, laying on the ground next to corpses. Another of Bernard’s jobs was to sort the dead from the living.

Bernard was unable to speak about what he experienced for almost 70 years, but in April, 2015, he went with teachers and young people from across the UK and travelled to the camp where he marked the 70th anniversary of the liberation, alongside Her Majesty the Queen.

Paying tribute to Bernard, Karen Pollock CBE, Chief Executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust said: "We are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Bernard Levy, liberator of Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. 

“Following the liberation of Belsen by the British army, sorting the living from the dead became Bernard’s responsibility.

“The experience stayed with him and he didn’t speak about the horrors he saw for 70 years.

“In April 2015, he joined Her Majesty the Queen to mark the 70th anniversary of liberation at the site of the former camp. 

“Bernard was gentle, kind and unassuming. He was a true gentleman who never wanted the appreciation he deserved.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with his family. May his memory be a blessing".