When the Nazis invaded Poland, Mr Ferster was forced from his home in the city of Sosnowic and sent to camps including Buchenwald and Auschwitz, where he suffered malnutrition and typhus.
February 7, 2017 14:12
Chaim Ferster, a Holocaust survivor who was sent to seven Nazi concentration camps, has died at the age of 94.
Mr Ferster passed away after suffering from pneumonia and a kidney infection, according to his rabbi, Arnold Saunders.
Paying tribute, Rabbi Saunders said Mr Ferster " had nine lives and was an inspiration".
When the Nazis invaded Poland, Mr Ferster was forced from his home in the city of Sosnowic and sent to camps including Buchenwald and Auschwitz, where he suffered malnutrition and typhus.
He was liberated by Americans troops, and settled in Manchester with his sister, Manya, in 1946.
They started a new life in Cheetham Hill where Mr Ferster set up a manufacturing business.
It was not until his late 70s that he started to talk about his wartime experiences. He dedicate his later years to Holocaust education.
Karen Pollock, chief executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust, said: "Chaim Ferster survived the worst horrors known to man, losing almost his entire family.
"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."
A relative of Mr Ferster, Hannah Salomon, told the Manchester Evening News: “He was a powerful, determined, indefatigable man.
“He was committed to making sure the world didn’t ever forget what happened.
“He was stubborn, defiant and determined to spread the word and was utterly committed despite how painful it was to recount the memories. He didn’t speak about his memories until he had reached quite an advanced age, his late 70s, because it was too painful.”
Ms Salomon said she hoped to create a lasting tribute to honour his memory, with the help of his sister and his three sons.
She added: “We have files and files of letters from children and adults whose lives he touched. We’re hoping to use those in some way and create a tribute.”
His son Stuart Ferster was involved in the Second Generation Network, set up more than 20 years ago to bring together children of Holocaust survivors.
He said that when growing up, his father’s time in the camps was “a forbidden topic”.
But his father had been moved to talk about his experience after becoming angry at comments that Holocaust victims had been punished for their sins.
Stuart Ferster said: “He only began to speak about it properly about 25 years ago. A rabbi in Manchester started saying that people suffered during the Holocaust because they were sinners, and it made survivors’ blood boil.”
Hundreds of people were expected to attend Mr Ferster’s funeral at Agecroft Jewish Cemetery in Manchester on Tuesday.
