The last Jewish resistance fighter from the Warsaw Ghetto is dead. Simcha "Kazik" Rotem died in Jerusalem at the age of 94, according to Israeli media.
Rotem, also known as Kazik Ratajzer, escaped after heavy fighting against the Germans with other comrades in 1943 through a sewer from the destroyed Warsaw Ghetto. After his immigration to Israel, he has reported many people from his exploits, according to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
"His stories will always accompany our people"
Together with President Reuven Rivlin, the head of government honored him as the last fighter of the ghetto. Rotem fought "against the Nazis and saved Jews," the president wrote on Twitter. "His story and the story of the rebellion will accompany our people forever."
As of April 19, 1943, Jewish insurgents in the Warsaw Ghetto rebelled against SS units. The almost one-month struggle against the superior Germans failed on May 16, 1943. A bloody crackdown sealed the fate of most of the surviving Warsaw Jews.