Thousands mourn revered Israeli rabbi and Holocaust survivor, 96, at his Jerusalem funeral

THOUSANDS have turned out to mourn the death of a prominent rabbi who survived the Holocaust at his Jerusalem funeral.

Menachem Mendel Taub, who was descended from a Hungarian rabbinic dynasty, died on Sunday aged 96, at his Jerusalem home.

Taub helped produce a two-volume encyclopedia documenting Jewish religious martyrs killed in the Holocaust. His death comes days before Israel marks Holocaust Remembrance Day, honouring six million Jews killed by Nazi Germany.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that Taub “survived the Nazi atrocities during the Holocaust and was dedicated to the rebuilding of the world of Torah in Israel and the Jewish diaspora.

“At the same time, he worked tirelessly to impart the memory of the Holocaust, specifically the heroism in the admirable spirits of those in the ghettos and camps.”

President Reuven Rivlin said on Twitter that Taub “suffered terribly as an inmate at Auschwitz and dedicated his life to the memory of the victims, inspired by a true love of Israel.”

Taub gave voice the spiritual heroism of Jews during the Holocaust and did all he could to honour the memory of its victims

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin

He added: “Taub gave voice the spiritual heroism of Jews during the Holocaust and did all he could to honour the memory of its victims.

“His work has particular resonance at present as we redouble our commitment to remember and never to forget.”

Taub was a survivor of the Auschwitz death camp and has been credited with entrenching Holocaust remembrance in the ultra-Orthodox community, placing particular emphasis on spiritual resistance to the Nazis during the Second World War.

He was born in Transylvania in 1923 but suffered chemical experimentation by Dr Josef Mengele after he was transported to Auschwitz in 1944.

Because of the experimentation he was unable to grow a beard for the rest of his life.

He was reunited with his wife in Sweden after the end of the war.

Many in the ultra-Orthodox community reject marking the state-sanctioned Holocaust Remembrance Day but while Taub did not shun the day he maintained it would be better spent in prayer and studying the Torah.

Ultra-Orthodox Jews instead mark the 10th of Tevet as their annual remembrance day for Holocaust victims, which is also used to mark other tragedies in Jewish history.

Taub was the author of numerous books, including several on the Holocaust.

After the war he moved to Cleveland, Ohio before going to Israel in the 1960s.