One of the last Holocaust survivors saved by Mary Elmes has died

Georges Koltein (left) with his parents and older brother Jacques. The Koltein family survived the war but several of their relatives did not. Photo courtesy of Georges Koltein's family.

Georges Koltein’s light has gone out. That is an approximate translation of the moving text that came from his wife Renée Scemama to pass on news that one of the last Holocaust survivors saved by Irish volunteer Mary Elmes had died.

He was in his 88th year, it was noted at his funeral in Paris yesterday. His age alone tells a story of victory against fascism because, at many times during his life, Georges Koltein thought that he might not have made it to double figures.