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“What the f*** am I doing here? Why am I doing this?” the former NHS care assistant cursed as he was shaken awake by four huge explosions on Ukraine’s frontline.

Moments later as smoke and falling debris cleared, a cacophony of sirens, car alarms and cries from wounded soldiers and civilians filled the air.

Doug Seeburg

A Brit medic is helping save lives in Ukraine[/caption]

Reuters

The doctor formally worked for the NHS, pictured destruction in Ukraine[/caption]

It was a sound all too familiar to the 25-year-old medic from south east England honoured with a special nickname by comrades for saving lives for nearly three years in the trenches.

It was time for “Doc Brit” to conquer his fear yet again and go to work.

The bespectacled young hero – who we cannot identify – was an NHS healthcare assistant working on hospital wards when Russia invaded Ukraine in February, 2022.

Watching Vladimir Putin’s forces’ brutal invasion on TV news, he suddenly felt compelled to help Ukraine and volunteered to join a humanitarian convoy heading to Kyiv.

Former Army cadet “Doc” – whose dad was an SAS medic and mum was an army truck driver – volunteered to become a frontline paramedic

And after nearly three years of carnage that followed, he revealed he has both saved – and taken – lives as a medic and rifleman at the sharp end of Vladimir Putin’s war.

He told The Sun: “I’m primarily a combat paramedic now but Ukraine is so short of soldiers I take part in assaults as well.

“I’m from a big military family and was in the Army Cadets from the age of 10-18, where I learned to handle weapons.

“I now carry an M4 assault rifle or a Kalashnikov into battles and open fire when I have to.

“I can’t be sure that I’ve ever actually killed a Russian but it’s very likely that I have during firefights.

“It’s not something I want to do but in those situations it’s ‘us of them’ – I’ve opened fire on undergrowth where they’re shooting from and kept firing till they stopped.

“But there’s no time to stop and do body counts – you have to keep moving forward if you can.”

Doc joined forces with two other Brit volunteer medics in Ukraine at the start of the war and stayed on after his pals both decided to return to the safety of their old lives.

I’m needed here much more than the NHS needs me back home

The doctor

But he has since forged close links with a battle-hardened group of foreign fighters dubbed The Chosen Company, who specialise in assaulting Russian trenches.

The unit – comprising Britons, Americans, Australians and recruits from across Europe – has posted graphic video of bloody firefights.

And Doc admitted he has come to question why he has fought on after losing six pals – including his best friend – in the continuing “meat grinder” carnage.

He told The Sun: “There’s not a day I don’t ask myself: ‘Why don’t I just go home and watch all of this on my phone or the telly like everyone else?’

“But then I realise I’m needed here much more than the NHS needs me back home.

“It’s been painful losing so many close friends over the past couple of years – three were killed by Russian drones, two by mortars and another was captured and executed.

“My best mate was an ex-US Marines machine gunner called Lance who was killed by a drone last year…he was 28.

“We bonded because we shared the same sense of humour and kept smiling through so many close shaves – but he got unlucky and his time was up.

“It’s a risk we all run out here but if we don’t fight, who else will hold the line against the Russians?”

Doc reckons he has saved dozens of lives treating battlefield trauma wounds under fire.

He said: “I’m always extra cautious going into battle because I know that if I get hit I won’t be able to treat anyone else – and may not be able to treat myself.

“I can never be sure whether my seriously wounded casualties make it – my job is to stabilise them before they’re evacuated to a field hospital.

I ran towards the wounded and found a soldier sitting upright with his right leg missing from above the knee – it was lying about ten feet away from him

The doctor

“But I’ve treated so many battlefield casualties I’d like to think I’ve saved dozens of lives in the time I’ve been here.

“I’ve treated soldiers but also a lot of civilians – the Russians don’t care who they kill.”

Doc has witnessed unimaginable horrors with both the Chosen Company and his previous unit, a volunteer battalion of Ukraine’s 49th Infantry Brigade dubbed “The Suicide Squad.”

But his worst single mass casualty event was an attack in the Kharkiv region town of Barvinkove early in the war – when four Russian bombs tore into a busy street.

He said: “I was about 300 metres away when four huge explosions erupted and knew it was very bad.

“It’s hard to imagine the chaos until you see it – smoke, flames, people with terrible wounds crying out and body parts everywhere.

“I ran towards the wounded and found a soldier sitting upright with his right leg missing from above the knee – it was lying about ten feet away from him.

AFP

The medic has treated many front-line injuries[/caption]

Reuters

Doc has witnessed unimaginable horrors in Eastern Europe[/caption]

“He was silent and in shock and I knew he would bleed to death if I didn’t act quickly so I applied a tourniquet and ran on to the next casualty.

“The second man I got to had been peppered with shrapnel and was in agony with deep holes up one side of his body – I packed his wounds then ran on to the next…

“That was a guy with horrendous burns to his face and chest – it was like a horror movie.”

Doc said he applied six or seven life-saving tourniquets that day as he dashed among dead and dying trying to prioritise scores of casualties.

But nothing could prepare him for the sight of one man he found amid the bloodbath who’d had half his face blown off.

Doc said: “I’m obviously not squeamish and have seen a lot of terrible things out here.

We can’t let the Russians win

The doctor

“But I’ve always had a strange phobia about treating eyes – I would ask someone else to give people eye drops when I was working in the NHS.

“So it was my worst nightmare when I came across this poor man with half of his face gone and his eye ball hanging down

“It was obviously a shocking thing to see but I tried hard not to show it and comfort him and tell him he was going to be ok.

“I could only bandage him as best as I could then move on – but I still wonder how he’s getting on and what he might look like now.”

Brave Doc pledged to steel himself and stay on and fight for Ukraine for “as long as it takes” yesterday.

He said: “I’m not one of those people who can sit back home in the UK watching Ukraine war videos on their phones.

I don’t want to be the guy who sits on the sidelines and does nothing when terrible things are happening – you have to make things change.

“And we can’t let the Russians win.”

Reuters

Russian strikes hit Ukraine[/caption]

EPA

Troops man an artillery position in Kharkiv[/caption]

A CAGE fighter says he is fed up of being teased by other hardmen — because he is called Taylor Swift.

The rising MMA star, 21, got so annoyed with having the same name as the world’s biggest pop star he considered getting it legally changed.

@lewisjamesphelps)

A cage fighter is fed up of being teased because he is called Taylor Swift[/caption]

@lewisjamesphelps)

MMA star Taylor, 21, has considered getting his name legally changed[/caption]

Getty

The Brit fighter has 1,500 Instagram fans, including Swifties who clicked him in error[/caption]

But now he has vowed to Shake It Off and reckons the chart-topping billionaire, 35, could be the key to helping him turn professional.

The 6ft lightweight fighter and electrical apprentice has won three of his four bouts since starting the sport 14 months ago.

Taylor, from Cheltenham, Gloucs, told The Sun: “Even at weigh-ins, people start laughing.

“The worst part is when the announcer is reading out the names before a fight.

“People ask if I’m serious when I tell them my name. It gets a laugh when I’m going through airport security and on the door at clubs.”

The rock and rap loving lad has 1,500 Instagram fans, including Swifties who clicked him in error.

He added: “The name will help. A big part of the sport is about social media and sales. It’s hard to become a pro, so everything helps.”

But he is not a Swiftie himself, saying: “I don’t think I could even name three of her songs.”

HE has endured the world’s harshest environments, but as Bear Grylls launches his new adventure series, he insists the real survival expert is his co-star Holly Willoughby.

Celebrity Bear Hunt saw the 43-year-old mum jet out to film in Costa Rica — a country notorious for its hijackings, executions and drug gangs — just weeks after discovering that she had been the target of a kidnap, rape and murder plot here in the UK.

Netflix

Bear Grylls insists the real survival expert is his co-star Holly Willoughby as he launches Bear Hunt[/caption]

Tom Dymond/Netflix

Ex-SAS trooper Bear says he discovered an inner steel that belies Holly’s girl-next-door TV image[/caption]

Tom Dymond/Netflix

Holly jetted out to film the new series in Costa Rica just weeks after her kidnap, rape and murder ordeal in the uK[/caption]

While making the eight-parter, which starts on Netflix next week, ex-SAS trooper Bear, 50, says he discovered an inner steel that belies Holly’s girl-next-door TV image.

He said: “I’ve learned over this show that she is much smarter, ­savvier, tougher than she looks — and do not be fooled by that nice exterior. I’m not, and I tell her this often.

“Holly always says, ‘I would be ­terrible if I was a contestant. I’d die. I’d just sit in a bush and cry’. But I’m suspicious of that.

“Holly is also dreamy and so easy to work with. Non-ego. You know, I knew we were going to be in the jungle.

“I knew it was going to be a tough environment, and I needed somebody with real grace.”

Despite heading into such a hostile location to make Bear Hunt, Holly insists she just had to get on with her “business’ as a TV host.

That was despite her kidnap threat ordeal, which forced her to quit ITV’s This Morning after 14 years in October 2023.

‘Nothing can prepare you’

This weekend, she broke her long silence on the plot, which saw 37-year-old security guard Gavin Plumb sentenced to life with a 16-year ­minimum term last year.

Talking about the year from hell she endured after discovering his chilling plan, mother-of-three Holly said: “It’s been a tough one — there’s no way of sugar-coating it.

“Nothing can prepare you for ­something like that. When something like that happens, you have a ­decision to make.

“You either decide, ‘Right, I can take this on board and it can absolutely affect all aspects of my life’. Or I can make a choice to go, ‘Let’s focus on everything that’s positive and good — all those important things.’

“I’m healthy and I’m happy. I’ve got a wonderful husband and children and family, I’ve got great friends.

“You have to say, ‘I choose to move forward positively’ then rely on all those people — the police, the court, the judge, the jury, all those people — to do their role. And that’s what I had to do.”

Asked if she feared the experience might consume her, she said: “No. It wasn’t an option.

“For me, it’s just not an option. For all those reasons I’ve said. That all means too much to me, to let that be the other road I could have gone down.

“And so many people go through tough things. They just do.

“I mean, every single person I speak to — and it seems more and more are currently going through something . . .”

It was this empathy that Bear says also made Holly invaluable on ­Celebrity Bear Hunt, which sees a dozen famous faces “hunted” through a section of the deadly Costa Rican jungle dubbed the Bear Pit.

It is a tough challenge, and Holly’s role was not only to present the action, as she did on This Morning and is currently doing as co-host of ITV’s Dancing On Ice.

It was also to be there for the celebrities when they returned to camp, sometimes traumatised and injured by their ordeal in the wild.

Bear said: “I think Holly is a really good ear for them. She’s like, ‘Oh, come and have a cup of tea’, and I’m like, ‘No — they need to learn this knot.

“Sort it out. We’ll see them in the Bear Pit tomorrow. And then we can be nice’. Yeah. So there’s a good- cop, bad-cop thing going on.

“It’s a high-pressure environment for them back in there. They come out of the Pit exhausted.”

Bear added: “I’m nice 90 per cent of the time — in the Bear Pit ­occasionally I’m a little nastier.”

The star insists that his experience filming Bear Hunt with Holly only ­confirmed what he has learned through a career spent in the wildest parts of the globe. He says: “You can’t judge a book by its cover.”

It was hammered home to him by the celebrities on the show, who included Strictly’s Shirley Ballas, model Lottie Moss, singer Una Healy and TV chef Big Zuu.

Holly is also dreamy and so easy to work with. Non-ego. You know, I knew we were going to be in the jungle

Bear Grylls

Bear said: “Just because you think somebody’s a bit older or, you know, heavier . . . the wild’s not like that. It’s all about spirit, and unlikely heroes emerge. I mean Shirley, you know, she’s showing them all.

“Lottie, you think she’d be maybe ‘just a model’, but she is super- focused. I would call her ‘just a model’ at your peril!

“She is really delivering and has that warrior look, which is great.

“It’s the same with Una, actually. She’s like, ‘I’m done with being nice — it’s time in that Pit to get ­ruthless’. That’s her own words.

“And I go, ‘Yeah, you don’t wanna live all your life like that, but there’ll come a time when somebody treats you wrong. You need a little bit of that edge in life’.

“So I like the reflection to life through these sort of shows.”

If it sounds a little similar to ITV’s I’m A Celebrity, then be prepared for a ­surprise because the challenges go way beyond eating animal private parts or coming face to face with gunge and creepy crawlies.

Though the celebs live in a camp and have to navigate the personalities of their co-stars, in this show the participants are essentially prey.

‘We all have primal side’

Bear said: “We’ve never done a show hunting people down. It definitely has an edge to it.

“But also it’s a big, big production to do because it’s a huge area to try to run this thing in.

“You’ve got explosions, you’ve got nets, you’ve got celebrities, you’ve got jungle, you’ve got wildlife. There’s an awful lot of moving parts.

“But I love it. I love doing shows that build ­people up. I don’t want it to be like a ‘We’re out just to beat you’.

Tom Dymond/Netflix

Bear said of Holly: ‘I’ve learned over this show that she is much smarter, ­savvier, tougher than she looks’[/caption]

“I wanted this to be an amazing experience for these guys.

“And from day one, the celebrities are totally into it. Like, ‘I want to learn this stuff — I want to become good at this’.

“And I think we all have a bit of a primal side where we want to be good at this stuff.

“I get a kick out of training them and putting them through the actual Bear Pit stuff that’s a little harder and more intense.

“But it’s pressure, testing this sort of stuff for real in that ­environment — it’s intimidating.

“You can talk about camouflage and tracking skills and survival skills and adventure skills and knots and shelters. But actually, putting it all together, where your survival depends on it, while under pressure . . . it’s pretty intense.

We’ve never done a show hunting people down. It definitely has an edge to it

Bear Grylls

“I’ve never done a show like this before, but I’m proud of it and it’s taken a really good team to help me put it together. It’s going to be tough and it’s going to be gritty.

“It’s going to have a gnarly feel to it and people are going to be intimidated and scared in the Pit.

“But ultimately I want them to come out, eyes shining bright.

“Those that still make it are super-proud of what they’ve done, and those that don’t give 100 per cent and don’t have it will naturally fall by the wayside.

“Cream tends to rise to the top. And I love seeing that at the end.”

• Celebrity Bear Hunt starts on Netflix on February 5.

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TV host Steph McGovern

Ray Burmiston/Netflix

TV host Steph McGovern wants to push herself out of her comfort zone[/caption]

I WANTED to do this because I have a four-year-old daughter who I want to grow into a strong woman, and I think this will show her that her mum is strong.

I like to push myself out of my comfort zone every so often.

Ted Lasso actor Kola Bokinni

Ray Burmiston/Netflix

Ted Lasso actor Kola Bokinni likes the unknown[/caption]

I’VE done Marine training. I flew in helicopters at night. I’ve done things that are quite challenging.

The unknown is exciting and nerve-racking. I want to dive into it and see where I get to just so, at the end, I can be proud of myself.

Strictly judge Shirley Ballas

Ray Burmiston/Netflix

Strictly judge Shirley Ballas reveals she is competitive[/caption]

MY son said to me, ‘Don’t think about being competitive.’ But that’s who I am.

I’ve climbed Kilimanjaro, I’ve jumped out of aeroplanes and, while I get a bit nervous inside, fear is not something I show.

Designer Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen

Ray Burmiston/Netflix

Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen says he’s a lot harder than he looks[/caption]

EVERYONE assumes I’m going to be a terrible ponce, but I’m a lot harder than I look.

I assumed I’d get some kind of Roger Moore safari suit. I didn’t know I’d be in Velcro, for God’s sake!

Model Leomie Anderson

Ray Burmiston/Netflix

Leomie Anderson wants to shatter stereotypes on models[/caption]

PEOPLE have this perception of what a model is capable of. They think we only care about how we look and we’re not smart.

I want to shatter those stereotypes. And also, to do it for my dad, who passed away two Christmases ago.

Ex-Rugby Player Danny Cipriani

Ray Burmiston/Netflix

Danny Cipriani is doing the survival show as he is starting life again[/caption]

PRIOR to this, my biggest challenge was probably my rugby. Going into a sport and facing the spotlight while continuing to learn about myself.

I feel that’s been my biggest journey and, at 36, I feel like I’m starting life again.

Model Lottie Moss

Ray Burmiston/Netflix

Lottie Moss says she has no idea what to expect from the show[/caption]

MY mum and dad think I’m crazy for doing this, and my friends are excited for me. They believe in me, which is nice.

My mum said, ‘I’ll see you at the end as you’re 100 per cent going to win’. But I don’t know what to expect.

Inbetweeners star Joe Thomas

Ray Burmiston/Netflix

Joe Thomas wants to have a laugh whilst being there for other contestants[/caption]

I’M not a team leader – I don’t want conflict. I want everyone to be getting along and having a laugh and I’m going to be like a willing foot soldier.

I’m going to try to make sure everyone is happy and to be there for people.

Spice Girl Mel B

Ray Burmiston/Netflix

Mel B says she’ll be able to bring different roles on the series[/caption]

I HAVE been with the Spice Girls for longer than I can remember! We all have roles.

Sometimes you lead, sometimes you’re in the middle. I’ve played all different roles over 30 years. I think I’ll bring that to the dynamic.

TV chef Big Zuu

Ray Burmiston/Netflix

Big Zuu says he is a big character[/caption]

I HATE losing. I have to win! Otherwise, there’s no point. I feel like mentally I’m a very strong person.

I always say I’m a big character. My big energy normally leads to me being in charge and if I’m not, I’m going to have something to say!

Singer Una Healy

Ray Burmiston/Netflix

Una Healy says her experience with The Saturdays has helped her become a team player[/caption]

I’M the kind of person that loves being given an itinerary. Even being in The Saturdays, I loved being told what we were doing the next day.

After being in a girl group, I am very much used to working as part of a team.

Wimbledon star Boris Becker

Ray Burmiston/Netflix

Boris Becker says his life experience has made him wiser[/caption]

I’M one of the oldest participants, so I’ve had a very intense and public life. I’ve had unbelievable moments and really bad moments.

In hindsight, I’m glad I’ve had all these experiences. It makes me humble . . . and wiser.

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Мексика відхилила прохання адміністрації президента США Дональда Трампа на дозвіл військовому літаку США, який депортує мігрантів, приземлитися в країні. Про це пише Reuters з посиланням на представників США та Мексики, підтверджуючи інформацію, яку раніше оприлюднило видання NBC News. Повідомляється, що військові літаки США здійснили в п’ятницю два схожі рейси, на борту яких перебувало майже 80 мігрантами в кожному з Гватемали. Однак уряд […]

Фото з Instagram Катерини Остапчук Дружина шоумена Володимира Остапчука, блогерка Катерина Остапчук у своєму Instagram запостила нові фото з маленьким синочком на руках. Катя у обтислому білому ромпері та з рушником на голові заселфилася у дзеркалі, притискаючи 1-місячного Тимофія до себе. «Мама», — написала вона.   Остапчук наробила нових селфі з сином Здається, Катя кайфує […]

"[The oncologist] called it a boring cancer. That's good! That's what you want to hear!" the former reality star said.

BRITAIN’S biggest family has been sent into chaos after mum-of-22, Sue Radford, revealed a shock diagnosis.

The matriarch of the bumper brood Sue announced the earth-shattering news on this week’s episode of 22 Kids and Counting.

Channel 5

Mum-of-22 Sue Radford, 49, revealed a shock diagnosis on this week’s episode of 22 Kids and Counting[/caption]

22 Kids and Counting, C5

The matriarch of the bumper brood had become quiet and distant, causing major concern[/caption]

22 Kids and Counting, C5

Dad Noel, 54, found a leaflet in the family’s chaos before confronting his wife about it[/caption]

This happened after husband Noel, 54, noticed that his wife, who is usually chatty and loud, hadn’t been her usual self for some time, leaving him concerned.

”I’m a bit worried about Sue, she’s been really quiet today which isn’t like her. She’s always like chatty, bubbly. Doesn’t seem the usual Sue.

”So I’m a little bit like ‘What’s going on?”’

Desperate to find out what’s been bothering Sue, 49, and why she’s become so distant, the pie master arranged a coffee date with the mum-of-22 – however, she never turned up.

The episode, which was streamed on Channel 5, also saw Sue’s daughter Sophie, 31, take her mum to a beauty clinic in a desperate attempt to cheer her up.

But it wasn’t until later when Noel stumbled across leaflets about dementia in their family vehicle that the patriarch found out what had been on Sue’s mind.

Confronting his wife, Noel didn’t wait a second and asked: ”What’s been going on?”

”I am sorry, it’s been awful,” exhausted Sue said.

”But now she’s told the family, I can tell you.”

Sue then broke the news that a lifelong friend of Sue’s been diagnosed with an early onset dementia – which the friend of the couple hadn’t yet told everyone in the family.

The condition, often described as robbing people of their ability to think, learn and remember, is the country’s leading cause of death, and there’s currently no cure.

More than 70,800 people are estimated to be living with young-onset dementia in the UK.

Symptoms can start as early as 30 – although it’s typically diagnosed much later, between the ages of 50 to 64, according to Dementia UK.

”It is devastating news,” said Noel who had thought the leaflets were meant for his wife.

”I knew there was something. I had all sorts of things going through my mind, thinking ‘Is it Sue? Something’s seriously wrong’.”

Sue, who was still in total disbelief, said that their friend was her age.

”It’s really upset me, especially when she’s got youngish children as well. You don’t expect that, do you?

”You kind of think, don’t you, that it’s something you get when you’re maybe 70, 80 – it’s not something you think of in your late 40s, is it?

”It’s knocked me for six. I feel like ‘Wow, that could happen to anybody, couldn’t it?”

”It just shows you how fragile life is,” Noel reminded.

After visiting the friend, who Sue has known for years, the mother-of-22 said she was ”dealing with it all okay”.

”She’s very bubbly, a big personality and she’s not the sort of person who will let things get to her.

”But you can tell that she’s worried about it.

”If you couldn’t remember, you know, like Heidi, Bonnie, Archie, whoever’s names, it’d just be heartbreaking,” emotional Sue said.

”It’s a bit of a reality check to see ‘You know what, it can happen to anybody, can’t it?’

”You don’t know what’s around the corner.

HOLOCAUST survivor ­Manfred Goldberg feared the story of his horrific childhood in Nazi death camps would be lost when he is gone.

But thanks to virtual reality and AI tech, the 94-year-old will be able to “live on” after his death to tell future generations about his wartime hell.

Supplied

Manfred Goldberg with a clapperboard during the making of the new interactive Testimony 360 tech[/caption]

Supplied

Manfred watches himself in action in the new tech wizardry, created by the Holocaust Educational Trust[/caption]

Arthur Edwards / The Sun

Devoted Manfred with Shary, his wife of 63 years[/caption]

The virtual Manfred will be capable of answering any of 15,000 questions about his experience of Hitler’s ­Holocaust, in which six million Jews were ­murdered in World War Two.

He will even be able to take viewers inside the Nazi concentration camp where his little brother Herman was killed while he and his mother were being worked almost to death as slave labourers.

He will even be equipped to take ­viewers inside the Nazi concentration camp where his little brother Herman was killed, while he and his mother were being worked almost to death as slave labourers.

Manfred, from Hendon, North West London, is the first Holocaust survivor to take part in Testimony 360 — a remarkable two-year project that will allow children of the future to ask him about the horrors he witnessed, long after he is no longer alive.

King Charles, who will visit Auschwitz today — Holocaust Memorial Day — recently met father-of-four Manfred at Buckingham Palace and experienced the new technology, created by the Holocaust Educational Trust.

In an exclusive interview with The Sun, Manfred said: “It’s the nearest thing to magic. It’s ­practically like being granted immortality.

“I don’t know how many more years I’ll be granted, but the intention is to help ­educate youngsters in schools 20, 30 or 40 years from now.

“Very soon after I began speaking in schools, it became clear to me that listening to the testimony directly from a survivor is the most powerful way you can reach young people.”

Violent death

Last year, Manfred sat in a classroom of schoolchildren to watch his virtual self speaking to them.

He said: “Initially, it felt weird — grotesque, almost. The youngsters were asking questions and the virtual me was responding.

“The children were quite overwhelmed. They couldn’t believe that such a thing was possible.”

Manfred and his brother Herman were born in Kessel, central ­Germany, where his Polish immigrant parents, textile merchant Benno and mum Rosa, were part of the town’s 5,000-strong Jewish community.

As war approached, Jews could only leave if they had a visa to another country, otherwise they would be sent to any one of the thousands of ­concentration camps that Adolf Hitler had ordered to be built.

Poland refused to take the family, so Manfred’s mum Rosa travelled to Berlin and begged staff at the British Embassy to give her husband a visa.

Poland refused to take the family, so Manfred’s mum Rosa travelled to Berlin and begged staff at the British Embassy to give her husband a visa.

Manfred said: “The gentleman who she met was so moved by her heartbreak that he wrote out a visa ­entitling my father to enter the UK.

It’s the nearest thing to magic. It’s practically like being granted immortality. I don’t know how many more years I’ll be granted, but the intention is to help ­educate youngsters in schools 20, 30 or 40 years from now

Manfred Goldberg

“She had no idea who this gentleman was. She kept saying, ‘I met an angel today’.

“We have since found out that he truly was an angel. My mother had the good fortune to meet Frank Foley, a super-spy for MI6 who saved more than 10,000 Jewish lives.”

The Nazis allowed Manfred’s father Benno to leave for London, carrying one small suitcase and just five ­German marks — equivalent to around £36 today — in his pocket.

But it was September 1939, and before Foley could get UK visas for the rest of the family, the war broke out, leaving Rosa and her boys, aged nine and five, trapped in Germany.

Then, in December 1941, they were given just ten minutes to pack before being transported on a crammed train for three days to an overcrowded ghetto in the Latvian capital Riga, where Jews were living 25 to a house.

Here, aged 11, known only by the number 54678, and on a starvation diet, Manfred witnessed his first ­violent death.

Arthur Edwards / The Sun

Manfred aged three[/caption]

Alamy

Prisoners after the liberation of the Nazi concentration camp[/caption]

As he and his brother waited for their mum to return from her slave labour shift in a factory making ­uniforms, the Nazis caught a woman smuggling food into the ghetto.

Manfred said: “She was put against the wall and shot — that was their way of terrorising us into obedience.”

Later, Manfred and Herman were held at gunpoint after finding a sack of potatoes in an unoccupied house in the ghetto. But the guard who could have killed the brothers let them go.

Over the course of the war, the family endured the horrors of six concentration camps.

At the second, in Latvia, Rosa and Manfred, then 13, were put to work fixing railway lines that had been bombed by the RAF.

While they were at work, Herman — by then aged nine — stayed in the camp with three other boys.

Manfred recalled: “We actually began to think that these beasts, brutal as they were, still had a little bit of sympathy or heart and allowed these youngsters to remain alive. But we were mistaken.

“A few weeks after we arrived, one day we returned from work and the youngsters had gone, all four of them.

A few weeks after we arrived, one day we returned from work and the youngsters had gone, all four of them

Manfred Goldberg

“Two SS men had come into the camp during the day. They had orders to collect the youngsters and took them away — to be murdered.

“Life in camp was so brutal. The next morning I and my mother, who was truly heartbroken at the loss of her little boy, had to line up, shout out our number and go to work as if nothing untoward had happened.”

One day a year later, the camp inmates were ordered to strip naked — the young and fit would survive, the elderly and infirm would be ­sentenced to death.

Teenager Manfred was put in the group to live, while his mother, who was grey haired at only 40, was put with those to be sent to their deaths.

But Rosa, with a small group of similarly naked women, raced over to mingle with those chosen to survive.

The guards then dragged the women back — but did not spot Rosa.

Later, dressed in striped prison garb, she and her son were sent to Stutthof, a death camp near the ­Polish port of Gdansk, where prisoners were fed a daily cup of gruel made from potato peelings.

Manfred said: “Once you entered through that gate, effectively it was a death sentence because rarely did anyone leave Stutthof alive. People reached a stage when they were walking skeletons.

Once you entered through that gate effectively it was a death sentence because rarely did anyone leave Stutthof alive. People reached a stage when they were walking skeletons

Manfred Goldberg

“Some could no longer walk, but shuffled on their knees. A very small number couldn’t take any more ­punishment.

“Though it was forbidden, they began shuffling towards the high-voltage fence to try to electrocute themselves to end their suffering.

“Trainloads of Jews were taken straight to the gas chamber and hours later they were dead, then sent to the crematorium for burning.”

After working at two other camps on railway repairs, with Rosa filling in holes and 14-year-old Manfred helping to carry tracks, they were sent back to Stutthof.

On April 26, 1945, with the end of the war just days away, the Nazis force-marched hundreds of emaciated prisoners out of the camp.

Manfred said: “Anyone who was too weak to march and began trailing behind was shot, and the bodies left as they fell.”

Searching for Rosa in the crowd, he bumped into teenager Zigi Shipper, a friend he had met in one of the camps before they became separated.

Searching for Rosa in the crowd, he bumped into teenager Zigi Shipper, a friend he had met in one of the camps before they became separated.

Anyone who was too weak to march and began trailing behind was shot, and the bodies left as they fell

Manfred Goldberg

Manfred said: “Neither of us knew that the other was still alive. He was in bad shape and could barely walk.

“I said, ‘Zigi, if you sit down, you’re dead’. I couldn’t let that happen, so I grabbed him, weak as I was, and began dragging him.

“Mercifully, someone took pity and supported him on the other side, so between us we managed to drag him.

“Shortly after, my mother and I bumped into each other. We were overjoyed.

“We managed to keep Zigi walking until we reached a small port, where they packed us into four large open barges, towed by tugs.”

For six days, the prisoners were crammed in the bottom of the boats with no food or water.

Manfred said: “Each day, our barge stopped. An SS officer appeared on a gangway going around the top.”

He would choose a screaming ­prisoner and order a group of men to drag them up to the top deck.

Trainloads of Jews were taken straight to the gas chamber and hours later they were dead, then sent to the crematorium for burning

Manfred Goldberg

Manfred said: “Within a very short time, we heard a scream followed by a splash. That person was thrown on his orders into the sea to drown.

“He was not satisfied until at least 20 or 25 people lost their lives in that indescribably cruel manner.

“It happened on a daily basis until day six, when the tugs went off and didn’t return. We were drifting unguarded.”

Incredibly, a group of PoWs in the barges — who were better fed than the death marchers — ripped up loose floorboards and used them as makeshift paddles to steer the barges to the shore, where they ran aground.

Manfred recalled: “There was ­jubilation. People began clambering up on to the top deck, jumping into shallow water and walking to land.

“But some people were so emaciated their hearts were still beating but their minds were not functioning.

People reached a stage when they were walking skeletons

Manfred Goldberg

“They were not thinking human beings any longer. They just sat there, not moving, waiting for the end.

“Then the guards and tugs returned. They went wild, seeing what we’d done. Some got on to the barge and we could hear incessant shooting.

“All those poor people who had remained behind were shot. A second lot came ashore and rounded us up.

“We really thought our last minute had come.”

Instead, the Nazi guards marched them on again, killing any stragglers.

Manfred said: “Suddenly the guards stopped shooting people, turned and ran for their lives.”

They had spotted a column of Allied tanks, and close behind, trucks laden with food.

The British soldiers they had seen began handing out water, loaves, tinned meat, cheese and fruit.

They were not thinking human beings any longer. They just sat there, not moving, waiting for the end

Manfred Goldberg

The war was over, and a year later Rosa and Manfred were reunited in London with Benno, who worked as a painter repairing Blitz-ravaged homes.

Manfred said of his entry to ­Britain: “I thought I had arrived in paradise.”

RTE viewers were all left overjoyed as Dancing With The Stars had its fan “favourite” movie week tonight.

The hit RTE show returned tonight with 10 celebrities all hoping to impress judges and viewers by dancing to their favourite movies.

RTE

Tonight was movie week on Dancing with the Stars[/caption]

RTE

Viewers flocked to social media to gush over the dances[/caption]

RTE

Rhys McClenaghan topped the leaderboard tonight[/caption]

Tonight was movie week on Dancing With The Stars, which saw the celebrities dance to some of their favourite movies in hopes to make it through to next week’s show.

Kicking off the night was Aishah Akorede and her pro dancer Robert Rowiński.

The pair danced a sultry Cha Cha Cha to Rescue Me from the movie Sister Act – receiving a final score of 24.

They were followed by an energetic American Smooth performed by Gearóid Farrelly and his pro partner Stephen Vincent.

Gearóid was firmly in charcter as the artful dodger from Oliver, which nabbed them a final score of 22.

Next up was lip syncing sensation Kayleigh Trappe, who rocked the audience and viewers with her Aristocrats performance of a Quickstep.

Their song of choice was the Aristocrats theme which bagged them a final score of 21.

Jack Woolley frightened viewers with his Tango to a song by Lady Gaga from Joker: folie à deux.

Jack came in with a terrific final score from the judges of 23.

Ireland’s favourite weather woman, Joanna Donnelly and her pro partner Maciej Zieba stepped out tonight for a ballroom dance.

Joanne floated as she did her ballroom jig to Mrs Robinson from the movie The Graduate.

Next was Elaine Crowley and her dance partner Denys Samson, who brought the camp and volume with their rendition of You Can’t Stop The Beat from Hairspray.

Their energetic jive gave her a final judge score of 18.

Mrs Brown’s Boys star Danny O’Carroll gave a jaw-dropping performance as he embodied a Gladiator hunk from the movie Gladiator.

They knocked out a Pasodoble to the song that had them come in with a score of 25.

FLYING HIGH

Coming in high from all nine’s last week was Yasmin Seky and her partner Simone Arena.

They embodied characters from the popular Disney movie Moana and knocked it out of the park with their Contemporary Ballroom.

Yasmin’s dance set to How Far I’ll Go came in with a score of 26 from the judges.

Thundering onto the screen next was Kevin Dundon as Shrek where he danced to the song I’m A Believer.

BIG BELIEVER

His Jive received mixed reviews from each judge as he scored a respectable 8.

Rounding off the performances tonight was Olympian Rhys McClenaghan with his partner Laura Nolan.

Rhys’ performance came in just one score off a near perfect 30, as he and Laura finished with two 10s and a 9, getting 29.

RTE viewers flocked to social media to share their love for Movie Week and raved about the standard of each dance.

As tonight’s show began, One viewer tweeted: “My favourite week on #DWTSIRL has arrived!“

Liam wrote: “The standard is so high tonight! Love Movie week!”

Another viewer calling out some low scoring said: “Scores not exactly reflecting the feedback.”