Nick Ferrari reflects on an unforgettable journey to Auschwitz-Birkenau with Holocaust survivor Arek Hersh
27 January 2025, 07:50 | Updated: 27 January 2025, 07:51
Nick Ferrari shown around Auschwitz by survivor
Ten years ago, Nick Ferrari embarked on an unforgettable journey to Auschwitz-Birkenau with Holocaust survivor Arek Hersh.
As the world marks the 80th anniversary of the camp’s liberation, Nick reflects on the profound impact of that visit and the lessons we must never forget.
In 2015, Nick Ferrari accompanied Arek, then 86 years old, along with Arek’s granddaughter Avital, on a visit to the Nazi concentration camp where Arek’s life had hung by a thread during World War II.
For Avital, it was her first time stepping into the harrowing site that shaped her grandfather’s life. For Arek, it was a return to the place that had stolen his childhood, his family, and so much more.
Read more: King Charles to make history as he visits Auschwitz on 80th anniversary of camp's liberation
Read more: Auschwitz's darkest crimes are the ultimate warning to humanity of where prejudice can lead
The Remarkable Story Of Arek Hersh
Arek Hersh was taken to his first concentration camp when he was only eleven years old in his native Poland. Arek had his possessions taken when he arrived and that was the last time he saw pictures of his family.
He takes up the story: "I came here with 185 children from an orphanage. We arrived by train in Birkenau.
"They told the men and boys to stand on one side and women and children on the other side. And then was the selection.
"He realised that he was in the left-hand of two lines with the sick, young and old, while fitter people were on the right.
"All the children from the orphanage were all sent to the left-hand side and I knew that was the wrong place to be.
"What happened was a young mother, she had a baby in her arms, and they wanted the mother, but they didn't want the child. They tried to take it out of her arms and she started screaming.
"That's when I made my move. Me and another boy went over to the right side."
That brave move saved his life. The people in the left line were led to the gas chambers. If he had not escaped to the left-hand line, he would faced the haunting death walk along this route.
When they heard they were about to lose the war, the day before the camp was liberated, SS staff blew up the gas chambers and crematorium. They have been left exactly as they were.
When prisoners were they taken into the gas chamber, they were made to take off their clothes in this entrance. When they were dead, 30 guards would go in and take out their gold teeth, then they'd be transported to the crematorium.
