My Voice: Chaim Ferster

Chaim Ferster was born in Sosnowiec, Poland on 18 July 1922. He lived with his parents and three sisters above the brush factory owned by his father. They were religious Jews and only spoke Yiddish. He was 17 when war broke out and German soldiers arrived in his town. My Voice: Chaim Ferster recounts the story of his life before, during and after the Holocaust.

Chaim was sent to one camp after another and set to work. Then, in September 1944, he was sent to Auschwitz. In April 1945, he was forced onto a death march to Buchenwald. After liberation, Chaim was reunited with his sister and one of their cousins and they came to Manchester, where he found work as a sewing machine repairer and eventually became a toy manufacturer. He married Nan and they had three sons, and several grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Chaim passed away in 2017. A story of two violins is part of the My Voice book collection.

The Fed is Manchester’s leading social care charity serving the Jewish community. In June 2021, The Fed were awarded the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service for the My Voice Project, the highest possible accolade for a voluntary sector group.