Gena Turgel, Holocaust survivor, dies aged 95 (2024)

Holocaust survivor Gena Turgel, who dedicated her life to teaching young people about what she and millions of others went through, has died at 95.

Mrs Turgel was sent to Auschwitz, Buchenwald and Bergen-Belsen, where she was liberated by a British soldier, Norman Turgel, whom she married six months later.

She spoke publicly about her experiences well into old age. Just six weeks ago, Mrs Turgel spoke to pupilsat the Jewish Free School, the largest Jewish school in Europe.

In April, spoke at Israel’s Holocaust Remembrance Day event in London, where she urged guests: “I beg you – don’t forget those who are less fortunate than yourselves”.

She was only 16 when the Nazis bombed her hometown in Polandin 1939. Her family had planned to escape to America, but it was too late as the Germans had closedall exit points.

By 1941, Mrs Turgel had to move to the ghetto in Kraków, taking with her just a sack of potatoes, some flour and a few belongings.

One of her brothers was shot by the SS, while another fled and was neverseen again.

Mrs Turgel and her surviving family were eventually sent to Płaszów labour camp on the edge of Kraków.

Her sister Miriam and her husband, who had married in the ghetto, were shot after the Nazis caught them trying to bring food into the camp.

When the camp was liquidated in the winter of 1944-45,Mrs Turgel and her family had to walk to Auschwitz-Birkenau.

In January 1945, Mrs Turgel and her mother were sent on a death march from Auschwitz, leaving behind her sister Hela. They never saw her again.

She went to Buchenwald and Belsen, where she looked after Anne Frank, who wasdying from typhus.

In a 2015interview with the Sun,she recalled:“Her bed was around the corner from me. She was delirious, terrible, burning up. I gave her cold water to wash her down.

“We did not know she was special, but she was a lovely girl. I can still see her lying there with her face, which was so red as she had a breakout. And then she died.”

She married Mr Turgel, wearing a wedding dress made from a British army parachute. Her arrival in Britain was met with fanfare by the press, who dubbed her "The Bride of Belsen".

The dress now sits in the Imperial War Museum in London.

After Mrs Turgel's death was announced, Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis shareda video of a speech Mrs Turgel gave.

“Her legacy is our responsibility now,” he said.

In 2013, Mrs Turgel was among the Holocaust survivors the JC asked to write 50 words on what being Jewish in the shadow of Shoah meant to them.

“I was in the gas chamber and I did not die," she said."Something was wrong with the mechanism and we walked out.

"Because God saved my life I have a duty, a mission, to educate and to be observant. Some survivors ask ‘where was God?’ but who are we to ask?”

Mrs Turgel wrote a memoir, I Light A Candle,in 1987.

“Gena survived the Krakow ghetto, Auschwitz, Buchenwald and Bergen-Belsen," said Karen Pollock, chief executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust.

“The Gena Turgel we knew was the most beautiful, elegant and poised lady. Her strength, determination and resilience were unwavering, her powerful and wise words an inspiration.

“Gena dedicated her life to sharing her testimony to hundreds of thousands in schools across the country. Her story was difficult to hear – and difficult for her to tell, but no one who heard her speak will ever forget."

She added:"We will continue to educate future generations in her name, ensuring her story and those of millions of others is never forgotten.

“A shining light has gone out today and will never be replaced.”

Former Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks said MrsTurgel was "one of the most remarkable Holocaust survivors I had the privilege to know".

He said: "She was a blessing and inspiration to our community. Her work to educate generations about the horrors of the Holocaust was as powerful as it was tireless.

"Throughout her life, she lit countless candles in the human heart and helped bring much light to the world. May her memory be for a blessing.”