My Voice: Chaim Ferster

Chaim’s book is part of the My Voice Project, a collection of firsthand accounts of Holocaust survivors and refugees from Nazi persecution who settled in the UK. Chaim Ferster began life in Poland in 1922, survived several labour camps and Auschwitz in World War II, and went on to live in Manchester. -- .

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Chaim Ferster was born in Sosnowiec, Poland. He lived with his parents and three sisters above the brush factory owned by his father. They were religious Jews and only spoke Yiddish. He was 17 when war broke out and German soldiers arrived in his town.

After surviving a harrowing selection process, Chaim was sent to one camp after another and set to work. Then, in September 1944, he was sent to Auschwitz. In April 1945, he was forced onto a death march to Buchenwald. After liberation, Chaim was reunited with his sister and one of their cousins and they came to Manchester, where he found work as a sewing machine repairer and eventually became a toy manufacturer. He married Nan and they had three sons, and several grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Chaim’s book is part of the My Voice book collection, a stand-alone project of The Fed, the leading Jewish social care charity in Manchester, dedicated to preserving the life stories of Holocaust survivors and refugees from Nazi persecution who settled in the UK. The oral history, which is recorded and transcribed, captures their entire lives from before, during and after the war years. The books are written in the words of the survivor so that future generations can always hear their voice. The My Voice book collection is a valuable resource for Holocaust awareness and education. -- .