Post by World Jewish Congress

On May 8th, Holocaust survivor Professor Ladislaus Löb, of the University of Sussex, celebrates his 88th birthday. He turned 12 years old on May 8, 1945, the day of Nazi Germany's surrender during WWII. It was the end of the war in Europe. This was his testimony about his experience as a child during the Holocaust: "We left Budapest in cattle trucks... We ended up in North Germany, in a concentration camp called Bergen-Belsen. The train arrived at a concrete platform and then we stood in front of a gate, and behind the gate there was a long row of huts, and barbed wire, barbed wire, barbed wire. Barbed wire became the symbol of the camp." Professor Löb dedicated many years of his life to teaching about the Holocaust. His testimony can teach us a lot about the lessons of racism. This is what he had to say about his 88th birthday: “I feel there is special symbolism in the fact that I am here, alive, and celebrating my 88th birthday – the number 88 being much loved by the Nazis and even neo-Nazis.” Wishing him Ad 120. Photo courtesy of Gamaraal Foundation