SPRING GROVE, Ill. ÷ Lisa Derman had told her story countless times, recounting how she watched the Nazis massacre thousands of Jews but managed to escape.

Derman, who committed her life to making sure the world never forgot the Holocaust and was president of the Holocaust Memorial Foundation of Illinois, told her story for the last time Sunday.

The 75-year-old Derman died of an apparent heart attack while giving a testimony of her life at the Illinois Storytelling Festival.

"It gives me chills to say it, but her last public words were, ĪPlease remember this story and tell it to others because I donāt know how long I will be here,"ā said a son, Daniel, of Evanston. "Itās unbelievable."

Derman, of suburban Northbrook, had been speaking for about 20 minutes when she sat down, handed the microphone to her husband, Aron, and said softly, "I think Iām having a heart attack."

Paramedics and doctors in the crowd rushed to her side, and her husband knelt beside her and held her hand, witnesses said.

"Her last conscious act was to do what she knew was the most important thing to do," said foundation executive director Lillian Polus Gerstner. "Lisa Derman was a walking illustration of the philosophy so many Holocaust survivors have of the critical need to share their experiences with as many people as possible, particularly young people."

Derman, who was born in Poland, was 14 when the Nazis invaded her town.