Holocaust survivor Mayer Hersh dies aged 90
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Holocaust survivor Mayer Hersh dies aged 90
Quote:
Originally Posted by MEN
Holocaust survivor Mayer Hersh has died at the age of 90.
Mayer was known for his tireless work recounting the horrors he endured in Auschwitz in a bid to ensure such atrocities were never repeated.
He died aged 90 on Friday at the Heathlands Village Care Home, in Prestwich, and was laid to rest during a traditional Jewish ceremony in Manchester on Sunday.
Friends have paid tribute to Mayer as a ‘true intellectual’ and ‘one of the nicest men in the world’.
Mayer was just 12 when the Nazis seized him – along with his brother Jakob – in 1940, after invading his native Poland a year earlier.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MEN
The pair were thrown into a string of concentration camps before eventually ending up in Auschwitz three years later.
Mayer was finally freed from the camp by the Russians in 1945 – by then, in his own words, a ‘filthy, emaciated skeleton’ suffering from typhus.
The two brothers were the only survivors of a family of eight.
Mayer settled in Manchester after the war with his wife, Judith, and went on to become one of the most distinguished and inspirational figures in holocaust education in the UK.
Over his lifetime Mayer shared his traumatic story with thousands of school children across the country.
He was handed an MBE in 2013 - nearly 70 years after the horrific events - as well as an honorary doctorate in Philosophy from Edge Hill University.
Matthew Lambert, a close friend of Mayer and Judith Hersh, said: “Mayer had been through the worst crime against humanity in the world but he was still one of the nicest, most pleasant people you could ever meet.
“He chose not to be a victim and instead shared his story with thousands of others. I remember the first time I heard him speak about his experience of the Holocaust and it was truly inspiring."
My teacher took us a few years ago in Sixth Form to hear him speak.
What a privilege to hear his story, shake his hand and have that link with the past forever in my mind.
RIP
