Elie Buzyn, one of the last survivors of the Holocaust, died Monday surrounded by family, right after presenting a final conference about the Holocaust to a group of young people, according to his daughter, former health minister Agnes Buzyn. He was 93 years old.
Elie Buzyn was "a militant of the duty to remember” said France’s chief rabbi, Haïm Korsia.
Born in Poland, Buzyn lived with his parents in the Jewish ghetto until he was deported to Auschwitz in 1944 at the age of 15.
After the camp was liberated in 1945 he went to Palestine, and in 1956 he moved to France, where he studied medicine and became an orthopedic surgeon.
Like many survivors, Buzyn went decades without talking about his experience in the death camp.
He started speaking about his life in the ghetto and the camp when his son said he wanted to visit Auschwitz.
Buzyn decided to accompany him, and he became committed to transmitting the memory to future generations.
Buzyn accompanied his grandchildren and many school groups to visit the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp, and he addressed many groups of young people, talking about his experiences.
"Many of us will disappear soon, and I entrust you with becoming witnesses of the witnesses that we are,” he told a group in 2018.
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(with AFP)
