Having made it to the very ripe old age of 103 last month, Ben Ferencz’s death Friday night has been marked in detailed obituaries of an amazing life that brought him from a Jewish infant fleeing Eastern European antisemitism with his family to the tenements and streets of New York to a world war to the world stage and to the halls of Congress.
We were fortunate to have known and admired Ben for many years and were glad to have celebrated this New Yorker who made a difference for the whole world.
As we’ve recounted, his sharp mind was recognized early in public school and he was sent to Townsend Harris High School with the brightest boys in the city for its three years accelerated curriculum and automatic admission to City College, for an accelerated three years there, completing eight years of free public education in six.
