Standing in the centre of the huge stage, his trembling voice leaden with emotion, 92 year-old Auschwitz survivor Chaim Ferster peered into the dimly lit auditorium and made a desperate plea to the 1,200 people who had gathered to hear him speak.
Never forget the Holocaust, he boomed with a force which belied his nine decades. Instead, he pleaded, let the memory of Nazi genocide be passed "like a baton from generation to generation" so that this darkest stain on the history of humanity could serve as a reminder of what man is capable of.
Chaim made his stirring address at the Greater Manchester Jewish Community's annual Holocaust memorial presentation. As one of the organisers of this yearly event, I've spent many hours with Holocaust survivors. Yet the impact of their testimony never wavers. As Chaim spoke that night, I still felt the overwhelming force of his words powering like a missile through the darkness.
Sadly Chaim passed away around 18 months later and the world lost one of the most eloquent voices to ever bear witness to the slaughter of six million Jews – among them over one million children.
Chaim had been awarded the British Empire Medal for services to Holocaust education, sharing remembrance of his unspeakable suffering at schools and events across the UK. (Having endured the brutality and horror of eight concentration camps, he lost 30 relatives in the Holocaust including his mother, father and two sisters).