The Jewish community and survivors of Nazi concentration camps are paying tribute to Brig. Gen. Hugh Llewelyn Glyn Hughes, the chief medical officer of the British Second Army which liberated Bergen-Belsen camp on April 15, 1945. Gen. Hughes celebrates his 80th birthday tomorrow. Joseph Rosensaft, president of the World Federation of Bergen-Belsen Associations said today that “the 80th birthday of this great man provides an opportunity for recording our feelings of gratitude for what he has done and accomplished in those bitter days after liberation, when so many were free but not yet certain whether they would live to savour their freedom.”
Gen. Hughes is credited with “super-human efforts” to save the lives of many camp survivors who were thought to be beyond recovery when they were liberated. Following the war he served for several years as president of “Bridge” an organization that arranges youth exchanges between Britain and Israel.
Rosensaft said, “I know I speak not only for myself but for the survivors of Bergen-Belsen in Israel, the US, Canada and elsewhere across the globe in expressing on this occasion our boundless gratitude and in sending our affectionate regards to the man who came on Liberation Day and remained a friend until today.”
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