When Naftali Fürst first entered the Auschwitz-Birkenau prison camp in Poland, he was 12 years old. 

Mr. Fürst is now 92. He is a survivor of a grim time in world history called the Holocaust. The word holocaust means a mass murder or widespread destruction of life. When people refer to “the Holocaust” with a capital H, they’re talking about the murder of Jewish people during World War II. Six million Jews died in camps like Auschwitz-Birkenau. These camps were operated by a powerful movement of the German government. Members of this movement were called Nazis. They controlled Germany and attempted to take over much of Europe between the years 1933 and 1945.

People around the world mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day each year. It is January 27. That’s the day Auschwitz-Birkenau was liberated by troops fighting against the Germans. Survivors of the camp come together around Holocaust Remembrance Day. They tell their stories. 

The Fürst family arrived at the prison camp in 1944. Guards separated young Naftali and his brother from their parents. Workers tattooed numbers on the boys’ arms. Then they were forced to march to another prison camp. They walked in the snow for three days straight. The guards killed many of their fellow prisoners. 

After Mr. Fürst was set free, he struggled. It was hard to speak about what he suffered. 

“For 60 years, I didn’t talk about the Holocaust,” says Mr. Fürst. “For 60 years I didn't speak a word of German, even though it’s my mother tongue.”

In 2005, he was invited to attend a ceremony. It marked the 60th anniversary of the freeing of another camp. He realized there were fewer and fewer Holocaust survivors who could tell their stories. That’s when he decided to do memorial work. Today, about 220,000 Holocaust survivors are still living. 

This year, Mr. Fürst made his fourth trip to a ceremony at Auschwitz. But many Holocaust survivors are no longer able to travel. They are too old or not in good health. Mr. Fürst knows that he is one of few still able to make the trip. So he believes it’s important for him to attend the ceremony. Storytelling helps people understand how terrible the Holocaust was. 

After he speaks, Mr. Fürst gives listeners a job. He tells them to continue to tell the story of the Holocaust.

He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound. — Isaiah 61:1