Holocaust survivor Tomi Reichental, who later settled and raised a family in Dublin, has died at the age of 90.
Born to Jewish farmers in Czechoslovakia in 1935, Reichental and his family were deported to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in Germany in 1944.
Reichental lost 35 close family members in the Holocaust and later dedicated much of his life to ensuring that future generations would never forget that dark chapter in history.
Irish President Catherine Connolly led tributes to Reichental, whom she said made an “exceptional contribution to Irish society, bringing his personal experience of Bergen-Belsen and of his family’s suffering in the Holocaust to public attention”.
About 70,000 people died in Belsen, including one of the world’s most famous diarists, Anne Frank.
Reichental moved to the Republic of Ireland in 1959 and raised his family in Dublin.
Speaking previously to BBC News NI, Reichental said despite the deep personal tragedy he experienced, he wanted to tell his story to audiences, because he feared people were beginning to forget the lessons of a dark chapter in human history.
“I started to speak because I thought I owed it to the victims and that their memory is not forgotten,” he said.
