Warsaw Ghetto Uprising Leader Marek Edelman Dies at 90

WARSAW, Poland – A friend says Marek Edelman, the last surviving leader of WWII Warsaw Ghetto uprising, has died at the age of 90.

Paula Sawicka told The Associated Press Friday that Edelman died at her family's home in Warsaw at 2 p.m. EDT of old age.

"He died at home, among friends, among his close people," Sawicka said. Feeble and in a wheelchair, Edelman had lived with Sawicka's family for the past two years.

He was the last surviving leader of the ill-fated 1943 Warsaw ghetto uprising against the Nazis. More than 55,000 people were killed or deported to Nazi concentration camps when the uprising failed.

Due to his defense of freedom and dignity he was considered a great moral authority. He worked as a cardiologist in the central city of Lodz.