Holocaust survivor Zigi Shipper passed away on January 18, 2023 in United Kingdom. He was 93.
Zigi Shipper was born on January 18, 1930 in Lodz, Poland to a Jewish family. As a child, Zigi lived with his father and paternal grandparents. His parents were divorced.
At age 10, Shipper was forced into the Lodz ghetto along with his grandparents by the Nazis.
In 1944, when the Ghetto was liquidated, Shipper and his grandmother were deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau.
After a few weeks, Shipper was moved to Stutthof concentration camp before being sent on a death march in 1945. He was liberated by British troops on May 3, 1945, and arrived in the UK in 1947. Shipper spent over two decades sharing his testimony in schools across the country.
In 2016, Shipper was awarded a British Empire Medal for his work with the HET.
In 2017, he accompanied the Prince and Princess of Wales on a royal visit to Stutthof, where he was able to meet his lifelong friend and fellow prisoner, Manfred Goldberg.
In 2022, King Charles commissioned a portrait of Zigi, which hangs in Buckingham Palace alongside six other holocaust survivors.
Zigi Shipper is survived by his wife Jeannette, two daughters; Michelle and Lorraine, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.