A devastated Brooklyn community yesterday mourned the death of a 100-year-old Holocaust survivor in a raging fire, recalling his generosity, tenacity and love.
An estimated 250 people gathered in Williamsburg for the funeral of David Weiss, a Satmar Hasidic Jew who died Saturday morning in a blaze at 144 Division Ave. just hours after he’d unlocked the doors of a local synagogue to prepare for morning prayers.
“It’s devastating, not only to the family but to the community because there goes another generation,” said community leader Isaac Abraham, 58.
Weiss’s body was to be lown to Israel late last night for burial.
Weiss’s daughter, Sarah Fured, 52, said her father, who used to work as a presser in a sweater factory, will be remembered for his charity.
“He gave money to everyone. He gave to charity all his life,” she said.
Born in 1909 in Nigrest, Romania, Weiss lost his wife and three children at Auschwitz, where he suffered partial hearing loss after repeated beatings.