One of the last living survivors of notorious Nazi death camp Auschwitz has called for decisive action against Russia as a podcast about his remarkable life is launched.
One of the last living survivors of notorious Nazi death camp Auschwitz, 99-year-old Gold Coaster David “Dickie” Groenteman, says he fears Europe’s dark history is repeating itself and believes the world must stand up to Vladimir Putin.
Mr Groenteman has called for decisive action to stop aggression by Russia and other dictator states as a new podcast about his remarkable life is launched ahead of his 100th birthday.
Called The Flying Dutchman, the podcast traces his journey from a star teenage ice hockey player in his native The Netherlands to a German prisoner-of-war, who narrowly escaped death row only to end up in Auschwitz where more than 1.1 million people – including his father, sister and brother-in-law – died.
The spritely nonagenarian, one of the world’s few remaining Auschwitz survivors, lives quietly on the Coast with his family but has spoken out for the podcast in a plea for peace, in what he hopes will be his powerful legacy for humanity.
“We, the human race, are the only species on earth that kill each other for no reason,” he said. “No animal does that. They only kill something if they are hungry. But people are killing each other from day one. What for?
Read the article by Greg Stolz in The Courier Mail.