Chaim Ferster, The Biography Of A Survivor Who Cheated Death

Chaim Ferster is not a celebrity in the film or music world, nor a standout in the art field, but he is a survivor. This 97-year-old man, who exudes health and stopped working only at the age of 92, is a symbol for the entire world.

In his own way, he defeated the Nazis by managing to evade all their assassination attempts not just once, but on eight different occasions.

While Chaim Ferster spent what should have been the best years of his youth trying to endure the horrors of war, those experiences didn’t ruin him emotionally. This is probably your greatest triumph.

He didn’t survive to talk about the pain or disgrace he and his family were subjected to without choice, but to remake his life without the shadow of the past having any influence.

Chaim Ferster is now a sweet, grateful and wise man. He has told his story hundreds of times, as he is one of the few Nazi concentration camp prisoners who are still alive and can narrate firsthand what happened in these deadly places.

He is also a great-grandfather, happily married for 65 years, and was the founder of a very successful company that brought prosperity to his life.

a dark age

Chaim Ferster was born on July 18, 1922 in a town called Sosnowiec, Poland. His family was an Orthodox Jew and was part of the community that represented approximately 21% of the population at that time.

He recalls that everyone viewed the progressive rise of Nazism in Germany with some fear. And they weren’t wrong.

In 1939, the place where he lived was quickly invaded by the Nazis. The Second World War began and also the imposition of anti-Semitism. First came the obligation to wear a yellow star on their clothes, then discrimination in the streets and uncertainty about what lay ahead.

Soon, Jewish ghettos were formed. Chaim Ferster was only 17 years old but he still remembers the fear that reigned at that time.

The year 1942 brought a definite change to his life. His father died of pneumonia, as in the Jewish ghetto it was not possible to obtain even the most basic medicines. The family was also affected by the severe restrictions on access to food.

That same year, the Gestapo demanded that his mother and sister present themselves to the authorities. Nobody has ever heard of them again.

tragedy and hope

Chaim Ferster and the other Jews understood that when someone was called to present himself to the Gestapo, no one would ever know his whereabouts again.

But nobody knew much about the concentration camps until then. The information that circulated was based on rumors and mismatched information. In this context, however, his uncle gave him some sage advice that would still save his life. He recommended that he learn some activity that would be useful to the Germans.

Chaim Ferster then began to learn about the mechanics of sewing machines in the ghetto. It was an excellent choice. In 1943, its time came. The Gestapo asked him to introduce himself and he was then sent to a concentration camp.

The beginning was very difficult. He was in the fields of Oświęcim, Graditz and Niederorschel. He remembers a time when prisoners were forced to repair a road in a temperature of 25 degrees below zero.

The Nazis, however, soon realized his technical knowledge and gave him less cruel jobs. This was essential for Chaim Ferster to become a survivor years later. But the path was not easy.

In Graditz he contracted typhus, as there was an epidemic, and he often mentions a grim image with piles of corpses, perfectly organized, of the bodies of all those who had succumbed to the virus.

Chaim Ferster is a survivor

It was almost 1945 when Chaim Ferster was transferred to Auschwitz. He says he got there at midnight, in the midst of a terrifying silence. There, his skin was tattooed with a code and he suffered great deprivation.

However, two months later he was transferred again, this time to Niederorschel, because they needed mechanics. For him, it was like moving to a resort.

Due to the advance of the Allies, Niederorschel camp was closed in 1945. All prisoners were sent to the dreaded Buchenwald camp, where collective executions were carried out every day.

The Nazis, by now, knew they were going to lose the war, but before that happened, they wanted to wipe out as many Jews as possible.

The time has come for your execution. He was in line for the place where they took place when the Allies took over the camp and released all the prisoners. Then came the return to a harsh reality. More than 30 of his family members had been killed.

One of his surviving uncles had emigrated to Manchester, where he went and was able to start his life over. Chaim Ferster defeated the Nazis because he was finally a survivor and became a happy Jew.