Warsaw Ghetto author Martin Gray dies aged 93 in Belgium

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The Franco-American author and Holocaust survivor Martin Gray has died in Ciney, Belgium, aged 93.

He was found in the swimming pool of his second home, a legal official said, adding that no foul play was suspected.

Gray came to fame in 1971 with his autobiography For those I loved, about life in the Warsaw Ghetto, which was made into a successful film in 1985.

In 1970, he lost his Dutch wife and four children in a fire at their house in France.

Gray was born a Polish Jew in Warsaw in 1922 as Mietek Grayewski.

In his best-selling autobiography, co-written with the French writer Max Gallo, he recounts his ghetto life, his escape from Nazi extermination camp Treblinka, his service in the Soviet Army and the loss of his family in the Cote d'Azur.

The book sold 30m copies in 26 languages, and the film starred the actress Brigitte Fossey as his wife Dina.

After living in France and the US, Gray moved to Belgium in 2001 where he lived the last years of his life.

"Martin Gray was a monument, who tried to promote democracy with the experiences of his life," said the mayor of Ciney, Jean-Marie Cheffert. "He was a charming man and a great humanist."