Auschwitz Survivor Shares Story With Fellow Members of The Legacy at Willow Bend

Nov. 8, 2012 - PRLog -- Jack Altman, Holocaust survivor and member of The Legacy at Willow Bend, stood in front of 80 of his fellow friends, family and guests to share his personal story. He was the second speaker of the Holocaust Survivor Series at The Legacy, which provides a forum for survivors to share their stories of struggle, courage and bravery.

         “One of our members, Bob Weinfeld, started this series, and we are amazed at the response it has received,” said Lana Van Giesen, executive director, The Legacy at Willow Bend. “It is important for us to allow our members, who survived the Holocaust, to let their voices be heard. We want to ensure that this horror never happens again, so it is crucial that we support our members and encourage them to keep their stories alive.”

         Jack was just 12 years old when the war reached his hometown of Belchatow, Poland on September 2, 1939. Just four days after occupation, The Germans began their destruction of Jewish life immediately. The town of 12,000 was made up of approximately 6,000 Jews who were ordered to bring their Torahs and other religious materials to the central market place where they were burned.

         Jack, along with his mother, father, and sister, were taken shortly thereafter to the Litzmannstadt Ghetto in Lodz, where men and women were robbed of family life and forced to work in factories producing goods for the Germans. Unfortunately, his younger brother, and other Jews from Belchatow, was deported to the Death Camp of Chelmo. His older brother was killed in Warsaw bombings when he ran away to join the resistance. After Lodz was liquidated, his family was transferred in a box car to Auschwitz.

         “My father, sister and I were deemed fit enough to work upon arrival at Auschwitz,” said Jack. “My mother was skinny and small, so she was told to get in a line that would eventually take her to the gas chambers. She was holding my sister’s baby in her arms, and when my sister tried to rescue her baby, she was forced to get in line with them as well. They went to heaven.”

         Jack and his father were taken to Birkenau and later to a German factory in a little town outside of Chemnitz called Siegmar-Schönau. In early 1945, American bombers started bombing Germany. Jack and his father, along with the other Jewish workers, were not allowed in the bomb shelters and had to run to barracks about a mile and a half away from their factory for safety. This eventually saved them as their factory was destroyed one day in a bombing. In March, Jack and his father were forced to join the Death March of 1,000 Polish and Hungarian men and boys across Germany – only 180 survived. They marched until May 7, 1945, and on May 8 they were liberated and taken by buses the following day to hospitals in Prague.

         “I eventually made it to America with my aunt,” said Jack. “I met up with Ruth Kryzman, a former classmate of mine, and lived in her uncle’s house. According to Jewish law, a man and woman could not sleep under the same roof unless they were married. So I married her immediately, and we have been happily married for 59 years now.”

         “I am very grateful to God for the opportunity to live in this amazing country with these amazing people and be able to give back to others. I hope I continue to do so,” Jack continued.

         Jack was co-founder of the Dallas Holocaust Museum Memorial Center in 1984 and served as President. He has been involved and supported countless other organizations throughout his life.

The Holocaust Survivor Series will continue the last Wednesday of every other month. For further information please call (972) 468-6236.

The Legacy at Willow Bend, Plano’s first and only life care retirement community, is situated on a 28-acre site at Spring Creek Parkway between Preston Road and Ohio Drive. The Legacy at Willow Bend offers resort-style services and amenities for active, independent seniors, as well as all levels of health care services on-site. The community features 103 independent living apartment homes, 12 custom independent living villas, 40 assisted living apartment homes, 18 memory support suites, and 60 private skilled healthcare suites.

The Legacy at Willow Bend is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit retirement community owned by parent company, The Legacy Senior Communities, Inc. The Legacy at Willow Bend, the only Jewish-sponsored life care retirement community in Texas, is open to people of all faiths.  For information, call (972) 468-6208, or visit www.thelegacyWB.org.