A WAR Veteran who lost relatives in the Holocaust is planning a sponsored walk between two former Nazi concentration camps, just days before his 80th birthday.

Mr Ben Langer, of Hope Road, Prestwich, aims to walk between Auschwitz and Birkenau in Poland on September 1 to raise cash for five local groups.

He will be joined by son, Eric and daughter Beverley on the two-and-a-half-mile trip, dubbed the Walk of Survivors, which will also commemorate the start of the Second Word War.

Mr Langer was born near Krakow in Poland and ran away to join the Polish Army at the start of the German invasion. He later spent time in a Russian labour camp before re-joining the army in 1941.

Many of his relatives, including his mother, sister and brother, died in the Holocaust. He has a sister who still lives in Poland.

He said: "The first time I went back to Poland I needed to go past Auschwitz and I went an extra 50 or 60km to go round it instead. In 1972 I decided to visit Auschwitz. My sister did not want to go so I went with my nephew and I had tremors for six months after." His forthcoming visit to the former concentration camp will be in aid of Jewish Care, the Christie Hospital, Delamere Forest School, Manchester Jewish Museum and The Association of Jewish Ex-Servicemen and Women.

He said: "I have been involved with fund-raising for 30-odd years and I am very imaginative. I do it for the simple reason that during my time there were people who helped me a lot, people in Russia and many more.

"I am one of those who likes thank people but as I cannot thank them personally, I involve myself with charities."

He is now awaiting the go-ahead from the Polish authorities but thinks he will have no difficulty completing the distance.

"Early in 1941 I was in a camp in Russia in the Arctic Circle, it was sub-zero temperatures and there were people dying. I was suffering with illness and the doctor came to me and said I had to go to the hospital 12km away.

"I did not have any shoes and I had rags on my feet but he said I would not survive unless I went. I crawled 12km and this was the turning point of my life. When you are determined to do something and have the power to do it, you will," he said.

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