A 99-year-old Holocaust survivor who endured Auschwitz and Nazi medical experiments has become a powerful symbol of resilience and faith after returning to religious observance at the age of 97 and beginning to learn in kollel.

Shimon Rothschild, who was featured on Kol Chai radio’s “Shtayim B’tzaharayim” program hosted by Pesach BaGad on Holocaust Remembrance Day, shared harrowing memories from his childhood in Poland near Auschwitz, offering a firsthand account of terror, survival, and spiritual renewal.

Recalling one of his earliest traumatic experiences, Rothschild described how, at just 11 years old, he watched Jews being hanged outside his window. “They are hiding, and you’re afraid that maybe someone will see you when you’re looking,” he said, recounting the fear that gripped him even as he tried to process what he was witnessing.

He went on to describe life in the ghetto, where he was forced into labor at the age of 12 under constant threat of starvation. He also recalled being herded with his community into a soccer field for three days without food or basic necessities. “You can imagine what went on there… no bathrooms, no sleep,” he said.

Rothschild’s survival story is marked by a series of moments that he describes as open miracles. One of the most dramatic occurred upon arrival at Auschwitz, when he attempted to save his younger sister. “Father was in shock… I said I have nothing to lose, I’m stepping out of line,” he recounted, describing how he placed her in the care of a woman in the women’s barracks.

In a split-second decision that ultimately saved his life, Rothschild managed to slip into a group of boys selected for medical experiments conducted by a Wehrmacht doctor. “He said ‘he belongs here’ in German… thanks to that I stayed alive, otherwise our entire family was destroyed,” he said.

After surviving the infamous Death March, during which he saw fellow prisoners murdered along the way, Rothschild returned to Poland, only to encounter continued antisemitism and hostility. “They were happy that they were killing the Jews, and they took all the property,” he said bitterly.

Following a period in Czechoslovakia, he eventually immigrated to Israel, where he built his life.

In recent years, at the age of 97, Rothschild underwent a profound spiritual transformation, returning to religious observance. He now sets aside time daily for Torah study and even dedicated a Sefer Torah in memory of his father, a Gerer chossid.

Today, his story inspire others with his message of faith and perseverance — that even at an advanced age, “kol zeman sheaner doleik – as long as the candle is burning, it is still possible to repair.”