Michael Smuss, a survivor of the Warsaw Ghetto in Poland who resisted the Nazis, has died aged 99 in Israel.
He joined the ghetto uprising as a teenager in 1943, helping to make petrol bombs. Taken prisoner, he survived concentration camps and a death march before the end of World War II.
After the war, he became an artist and Holocaust educator. The embassies of Germany and Poland in Israel paid tribute to him on social media.
He repeatedly risked his life during the Holocaust, fighting for survival and helping other prisoners in the Warsaw Ghetto – even after he was captured by the Nazis and deported to concentration camps, the German embassy stated on X.
The Polish embassy said Smuss lectured youth on the history of Polish Jews and expressed his memories through art. His legacy endures.
Last month, Germany's ambassador to Israel awarded Smuss with the German Federal Cross of Merit, in recognition of his contribution to Holocaust education and promoting dialogue between the two countries, the embassy said. Thousands of people, especially young people in Germany, have learned from his testimonies.
Born in 1926 in the Free City of Danzig, Smuss was later deported to the Warsaw Ghetto with his father. During his time there, he fought against the Nazis by creating makeshift weapons and participated in the uprising that lasted 28 days.
After enduring forced labor and witnessing the horrors of the camps, Smuss returned to Poland before moving to the US and eventually settling in Israel, where he continued to educate others about the Holocaust.
