Kurt Salomon, one of the last survivors of the Holocaust residing in Switzerland, passed away on August 2 in Geneva at the age of 86.
Kurt Salomon was born in Aachen, Germany, in 1935. Shortly before his third birthday, the synagogue in the city was burned down, the Jewish shops destroyed, and Jews arrested. After his father was briefly deported to the Oranienburg concentration camp, the family of four fled to Belgium – first to Antwerp and then Brussels. In Brussels, he had to wear the yellow star, which he has kept to this day.
Given Christian identities and baptized, Salomon and his sister Ruth survived the Holocaust in hiding. The two were reunited with their parents in 1945. They had survived in Mechelen, a transit camp on the way to Auschwitz, carrying out painting jobs and working in the infirmary. Kurt Salomon came to Switzerland in 1963, after falling in love with a Swiss woman. They had a son, a daughter (deceased), and two grandsons.
Following the events of the Holocaust, Salomon made it a point to never be silent, never be indifferent, never hate, and never forget. He dedicated much of his life to sharing his story with younger generations, carrying the yellow star of his childhood with him as a symbol of the dangers of racism and antisemitism., and recently meeting with Swiss Federal President Simonetta Sommaruga. He also shared his testimony last January on International Holocaust Remembrance Day in Montreux for the Gamaraal Foundation which documents the stories of the last Swiss survivors.
Solomon’s funeral took place at Saint-Georges cemetery on August 11 during a private ceremony.