I was taught that if you see a person drowning, you must jump into the water to save them, whether you can swim or not.

Every child saved with my help and the help of all the wonderful secret messengers, who today are no longer living, is the justification of my existence on this earth, and not a title to glory.

I was brought up to believe that a person must be rescued when drowning, regardless of religion and nationality. The term ‘hero’ irritates me greatly – the opposite is true – I continue to have pangs of conscience that I did so little.

The world can be better if there's love, tolerance and humility.

I was taught that if you see a person drowning, you must jump into the water to save them, whether you can swim or not.

Heroes do extraordinary things. What I did was not an extraordinary thing. It was normal.

Over a half-century has passed since the hell of the Holocaust, but its spectre still hangs over the world and doesn't allow us to forget.