HAIFA, Israel — Naftali Fürst carries the haunting memories of his first encounter with the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, which occurred on November 3, 1944. At just 12 years old, he experienced the horror as SS soldiers flung open the doors of the cramped cattle car that held him, his parents, his brother, and over 80 other individuals. He recalls the towering chimneys spewing flames, and the frantic shouts of officers ordering everyone to disembark, forcing them onto the notorious ramp where Dr. Josef Mengele made his infamous selections.

Now at the age of 92, Fürst represents one of the few remaining Holocaust survivors who can share their firsthand experiences as the world observes the 80th anniversary of the liberation of this notorious death camp. He is preparing for his fourth trip back to Auschwitz for the annual commemoration. Each visit plunges him back to that fateful moment when he felt certain he would not survive.

“We knew we were heading towards certain death,” he reflected from his home in Haifa earlier this month, recalling how in Slovakia, they were aware that those who had gone to Poland never returned.

Fortune played a role in Fürst’s survival; his family arrived at Auschwitz just one day after Nazi leader Heinrich Himmler issued orders to halt gas chamber operations as Soviet troops closed in. This brief twist of fate spared his family from immediate execution, a lucky coincidence among many that allowed him to endure.

For six decades, Fürst remained silent about the Holocaust, choosing not to speak German, his mother tongue. It was not until 2005, when he was invited to a ceremony marking the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Buchenwald—where he was freed on April 11, 1944, after being transferred from Auschwitz—that he felt compelled to begin sharing his story. Since then, he has dedicated himself to memorial work, underscoring the urgency as the number of survivors dwindles. This upcoming ceremony will mark another significant return for him, during which he previously met Pope Francis in 2016.

The Holocaust resulted in the slaughter of approximately 6 million Jews by the Nazis, among other targeted groups, prior to and during World War II. The Soviet Red Army liberated the Auschwitz-Birkenau site on January 27, 1945, a date now recognized globally as International Holocaust Remembrance Day. It is estimated that around 1.1 million people, predominantly Jews, met their demise within the camp’s confines.

Today, about 220,000 Holocaust survivors remain, according to estimates, with over 20% aged 90 or older.

Fürst hails from Bratislava, previously part of Czechoslovakia, where he was just six years old when the Nazis began enacting anti-Jewish measures. He spent the ages of 9 to 12 in various concentration camps, including Auschwitz. His family’s desperate plan to escape the fate of the cattle car was thwarted by the crowding that left them unable to reach the doors.

Despite the ordeal, Fürst’s father instructed his family to reunite at a specific address in Bratislava after the war. Tragically, he and his brother were separated from their mother and father, assigned to Block 29 in Auschwitz, which held few other children. As the Soviet troops advanced nearby, Fürst and his brother had to endure a perilous journey towards Buchenwald, marching for three frigid days, knowing that guards would shoot anyone who fell behind.

“We had to demonstrate our will to live with each step,” he recounted. Many around them succumbed to despair, but they adhered to their father’s enduring advice: “You must adapt and survive, and even if you’re suffering, you must come back.”

Both brothers managed to survive the treacherous march and a harrowing train ride, yet they were separated upon arrival at the next camp. When Fürst was liberated at Buchenwald—captured in a famous photograph alongside Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel—he feared he was all alone. Surprisingly, within months, following his father’s directive, the family members reunited at a friend’s home where they had committed the address to memory. Tragically, their extended family—grandparents, aunts, and uncles—had all perished. After the war, the family relocated to Israel, where Fürst married, welcomed a daughter, and now boasts four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren, with a fourth on the way.

On October 7, 2023, Fürst was jolted awake to the news of the Hamas attack in southern Israel, immediately worrying for his granddaughter, Mika Peleg, her husband, and their toddler son, who were in Kfar Aza, a kibbutz heavily affected by the violence. Communication was cut off as the situation escalated.

“It was a heart-wrenching day,” Fürst recalled. “The horror unfolded before our eyes, and we couldn’t fathom that such events could recur 80 years after the Holocaust.”

Late on October 7, relief washed over the family when Peleg’s neighbors revealed the family had survived; they had spent nearly 20 hours trapped in their fortified room without food or means to communicate. Sadly, her husband’s parents, who were also residents of Kfar Aza, were among those who were killed.

While acknowledging this painful event, Fürst is hesitant to draw direct comparisons to the Holocaust. “It’s indescribably awful, but calling it a Holocaust is erroneous,” he said. He articulated the unique nature of the Holocaust—a systematic and industrialized genocide capable of claiming thousands of lives each day, far beyond the scope of present-day tragedies.

Fürst has previously engaged in coexistence initiatives between Jews and Arabs and expresses empathy for the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza. However, he believes Israel had no choice but to launch a military response. “I understand suffering and feel for those in pain, regardless of where they are,” he noted.

In recognizing the rarity of Holocaust survivors able to travel to Auschwitz today, Fürst feels it crucial to be present for this significant anniversary. He is dedicated to recounting his story as frequently as possible, participating in documentaries and films, leading the Buchenwald Prisoner’s Association, and working to establish a memorial statue at the Sered’ concentration camp in Slovakia.

He emphasizes the importance of conveying survivors’ stories to honor the millions who were lost and believes that individual narratives resonate more deeply than mere statistics reflecting 6 million deaths. “I tell the youth, the opportunity to hear a living testimony carries a responsibility; you must continue to share this story.”