Auschwitz survivors throughout the world are bidding farewell to their friend and brother, the Polish Auschwitz survivor Kazimierz Albin, who died yesterday in Warsaw at the age of 96.

Kazimierz Albin belonged to the first transport of prisoners to reach Auschwitz in June 1940. Albin was 17 years old when he received the prisoner number 118 instead of his name on arrival at the death camp. From the very first moment of his imprisonment he was determined not to be overcome by fear and hatred. Instead he would try to alleviate his own fate and that of his fellow prisoners.

During his work in the SS kitchens he repeatedly managed to save the lives of fellow prisoners by illegally smuggling out food. In February 1943 he decided to escape from Auschwitz together with a fellow inmate, in order to let the world know what was happening inside the hell of the camp. In Kraków he joined the armed resistance of the Polish Home Army, and fought for the liberation of his country and the concentration camps. His brother, who was also imprisoned in Auschwitz, was tortured as a result of his Kazimierz’s escape. His mother was also arrested as a close relative and imprisoned in Auschwitz. She was later transferred to Ravensbrück women’s concentration camp.

In Berlin Christoph Heubner, the Executive Vice President of the International Auschwitz Committee, paid tribute to Kazimierz Albin:

“In his later life, Kazimierz Albin saw it as his most important task and duty to provide accounts about Auschwitz and his murdered fellow prisoners. He wrote books, he narrated, he travelled and spoke with young people in many countries around the world. He felt it was very important for him to be heard in Germany. His accounts were clear and filled with facts. His steady gaze was directed towards life and young people, even as he spoke of the monstrosities that he had seen with his own eyes and experienced on his own body. Then and now, as inside the camp and in the present-day, he never espoused hatred. He set his hopes on young people’s willingness to learn and their joy in life. Kazimierz Albin was a Polish patriot, a dedicated European and a builder of bridges between Polish and German people. And he was a man who never lost sight of his memories and his hopes.”