The family of Holocaust survivor Gena Turgel hopes to set up a foundation in her name to protect her legacy and continue educating people about what she and millions of others went through.

Mrs Turgel died aged 95 on Friday and her grandson Jonny Turgel, who is a popular chazan, told the JC: “She lit a candle, and we'll keep it burning.

“We will together take it upon ourselves to ensure her legacy lives on and that her story is never forgotten."

Mrs Turgel survived Auschwitz, Buchenwald and Bergen-Belsen. She spoke publicly about her experiences well into old age.

Just six weeks ago, Mrs Turgel spoke to pupils at the Jewish Free School, the largest Jewish school in Europe.

Mr Turgel said his "entire family" was "completely overwhelmed by the scale of the response" to his grandmother's death.

He added: “We knew she impacted the entire community and beyond with her story, and the way she presented herself with her inimitable elegance and poise."

He said reading the tributes to her has provided the family “with a great degree of comfort and she would have been completely elated seeing them".

“We can't imagine a world without our nana," he said. “For me personally, Friday night especially will always feel a sense of emptiness without being able to pop over the road on my way to shul to make kiddish for nana.

“I'll miss sitting down for a roast potato or piece of cake especially laid out waiting for me each week.”

Mr Turgel said she always gave her grandchildren a “listening ear and sound advice and a solution to every situation we discussed.

“I'll miss singing with her at the Shabbat table. I'll miss having her there, encouraging me through every concert and performance.

“I'll miss her especially during the chaggim. The amazing thing about nana was that every member of the family had a unique and special relationship with her and she made us all feel so loved, precious and important.

“Each of us in the family has countless memories that'll keep her memory alive.”

Mrs Turgel’s eldest grandson Adam Tash also paid tribute to his grandmother.

“Each and every one of us will ensure her light continues from generation to generation, she was an icon to us all,” he said.

“I light a candle, the name of her book, a candle that has now gone out, a candle that she can no longer light for those 6 million men women and children that were murdered by the Nazis, the light that she was, as the Matriarch of our family.

“The light that she lit every time she told her experiences, the light that she will meet again waiting for her at the gates of  shamayim, together with my Zeida, her family, the loved ones she never said goodbye to and the six million she was the mouth piece and messenger for.”

Harris Turgel, her son said: “The world will miss an icon, we, the family miss our mum and Nana.”

The family has set up an email address, rememberinggena@gmail.com, where people can send their tributes to and memories of Mrs Turgel.