Henry Kinast (M / Poland, 1929-2019), Holocaust survivor

Henry Kinast (M / Poland, 1929-2019), Holocaust survivor.

• KEYWORDS : <Lodz Ghetto> <Buchenwald> <Buchenwald Block 66> <Liberation of Buchenwald> -- <Sweden> <United States>

Miami Herald (12 March 2019)

KINAST, HENRY 89, passed away March 9 in the comfort of his home and surrounded by those who loved him, in Youngstown, Ohio. Henry was also a resident of Aventura, Florida where he was an active member of Aventura Turnberry Jewish Center. Henry was born in 1929 in Lodz, Poland, to Abraham and Pearl Kinast. He was a Holocaust survivor who as a young boy defied the odds of slave labor and the concentration camps and proudly became the patriarch of a large family rooted in a family business. After the war, Henry reunited with his father and brother, Milton. They relocated to Sweden, where he met and fell in love with Inga Jonsson, of Malmo, Sweden. Together, Henry and Inga immigrated to the United States in 1954. Eventually they settled in Youngstown, where they raised their four children. Henry worked his way up the ranks in machine and tool and die shops, and despite no formal education past the age of 10, founded what is now PSK Steel, one of the nation's largest stocking inventories of specialized steel. Henry was an avid golfer and played year-round, in Youngstown and Aventura, Florida where he resided in the winter. Henry played piano beautifully without ever having a formal lesson and would often play with his grandchildren and great-grandchildren sitting by his side. Years after Inga passed away, he married Gisela Kinast, of Worms, Germany, and together they enjoyed old films, ballroom dancing, traveling and a zest for life. While a successful businessman, it was family that brought him the most joy. Often surrounded by his family, Henry would look around and say, "From just one survivor, we have all of this." He will be deeply missed by those he leaves behind, but forever cherished as the man who gave a beautiful life to so many. Henry is survived by his loving, caring wife, Gisela; his brother, Morris Kinast (Marcie); his daughter, Paula Malkoff, and her daughter, Heather Malkoff (Justin Weisser); son, Jerry, and his wife, Laureen Kinast, and their four daughters, Arica Sandler (Todd), Lindsey Shapiro (Craig), Katie and Brooke Hoff (Kyle); his daughter Terri, and her husband, Steve Anderson, and their four children, Morgan, Ian (Hannah), Rachel Kay (Jeffrey) and Rex (Gabby); his daughter Aliza, and her husband, Jeffrey Levy, and their five children, Zachary, Carly, Samantha, Ellie and Lily; and his adoring great-grandchildren Miles and Emi Sandler, Isla and Beckett Shapiro, Ethan and Molly Kay, Varuka Weisser and Jack Anderson. Published in the Miami Herald on Mar. 12, 2019.