SYDNEY, Australia (JTA) – A survivor of Auschwitz who gave evidence at the Nuremberg Trials died in New Zealand.
Fred Silberstein died Monday in Auckland. He was 80.
Silberstein, who was 14 when he was taken to Auschwitz in 1943, spent much of his life educating New Zealanders about the horrors of the Holocaust and the subsequent dangers of racism.
New Zealand Jewish Council president Stephen Goodman described him as “a tzadik,” a righteous person.
“For 60 years he worked tirelessly bearing witness to the horrors of the Holocaust," Goodman said. "He was a modest and humble man.”
Tattooed with the number 106795, Silberstein survived operations by Dr. Josef Mengele, "the Angel of Death," and cheated near-certain death by telling camp guards he was 15 and able to do manual labor.
His evidence at the Nuremburg Trials in 1946 helped condemn Nazi leaders such as Herman Goering and Rudolph Hess. He moved to New Zealand in 1948.
There are no records of how many Holocaust survivors are still living in New Zealand, but Goodman said they would be few.
