Gerd Klestadt, who survived the horrors of two Nazi concentration camps and later settled in Luxembourg to share his story, has died at 92.
Born in Düsseldorf in 1932, Klestadt fled with his family to the Netherlands at the age of four. However, in 1943, they were arrested and detained. Klestadt was first imprisoned at the Westerbork concentration camp in Groningen before being transferred to Bergen-Belsen in northern Germany. He was liberated in April 1945 when US troops freed the Bergen-Belsen camp.
In the 1970s, Klestadt and his second wife, Charlène, settled in Luxembourg. A first-generation witness to the horrors of the Shoah, he became an active advocate for Shoah remembrance starting in 2001. Recently, he published his memoirs, offering a poignant account of his experiences.
Klestadt emphasised that his story serves as a stark reminder of the past and a warning for the present. He expressed dismay that humanity seems to have “learned nothing” from history, noting troubling parallels between past and current events.
His memoir, titled “Noch heute quält mich die Erinnerung” (“The memories still torment me today”), is available in German.
Klestadt, a father of three, was preceded in death by his wife Charlène, who passed away recently.
