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Holocaust survivor and Occupy inspiration dies

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Stéphane Hessel, co-author of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and an inspiration for the global Occupy movement, died last week aged 95.

Mr Hessel was born in Berlin but moved to Paris with his Jewish father and Protestant mother when he was eight. He became a naturalised French citizen in 1939.

He was captured by the Gestapo in 1944 and held for 29 days for his participation in the French resistance. He spent time at Buchenwald and Dora concentration camps, before he managed to escape and find refuge with American troops. Mr Hessel was best known for his pamphlet Indignez-Vous!, which challenged society to eliminate the gap between rich and poor and sold 4.5 million copies in 35 countries.

French President François Hollande said Mr Hessel taught us a “lesson, which is never to accept any injustice”.

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