The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Holocaust survivor and renowned journalist Noah Klieger, aged 92
Noah Klieger, an Auschwitz survivor who wrote for decades about the Holocaust, died yesterday at the age of 92.
Born in 1926 in the French city of Strasbourg, Klieger was active during the Second World War in the anti-Nazi underground, and helped smuggle Jews from France to Switzerland. He was ultimately arrested by the Germans and between 1942 and 1945 was interned at a number of camps – Mechelin, Dora-Mittelbau and Ravensbruck, in addition to Auschwitz.
At Auschwitz, he faced the infamous Dr Josef Mengele, who decided who would be sent to the left – to their immediate deaths, and who would be allowed to live, at least somewhat longer.
“I had no chance,” Klieger recalled. “It was clear to me from Mengele’s look that he would send me to the left, and that’s what he did, and I automatically turned around, knowing that this was the end. To this day, I can’t explain it, but all of a sudden, I turned around again and went back to (Mengele’s) desk. I delivered a desperate speech in which I stressed that I could still be of benefit by working,” Klieger recounted.
After the war, Klieger helped smuggle Jews into British-ruled Palestine and was even a member of the crew of the SS Exodus, which attempted to bring Holocaust survivors to pre-state Israel in 1947. In 1948, he immigrated to Israel and fought in the War of Independence.
He embarked on his long journalism career immediately after, covering the trials of Nazi war criminals in Belgium, France and Germany. In 1958, he joined the staff of the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper and later covered the Nazi war crimes trials in Israel.
Klieger lectured frequently around the world about the Holocaust.
In 2005 he wrote: “I have visited the site of the Auschwitz extermination camp every year for the past 60 years. Every time, it has been as if everything had just happened.”
Klieger will also be remembered for his involvement with sports. He even engaged in boxing at Auschwitz. For many years, he also worked as a sports reporter and also assumed management roles in the field of basketball.
Over the years, he received a number of awards for his work commemorating the Holocaust.
The most important recognition was his designation as a knight of the French Legion of Honor.
Klieger is survived by a daughter and three grandchildren.