Yosef Kleinman

Yosef Kleinman (M / Hungary, 1930), Holocaust survivor

Survived with his brother (2 years older).

• KEYWORDS : <Auschwitz> <Dachau> <Liberation of Dachau> -- <Unites States>

Biography

Born January 30, 1930, Yosef Kleinman was arrested by the Germans in the Carpathian Mountains region in Hungary in 1944 at the age of 14. He was imprisoned in Auschwitz-Birkenau with his parents, 11 year-old sister and 15 year-old brother. “When I was inspected for selection, the German officer hesitated where to send me because of my age. He finally selected me for work. That was the last time I saw my parents and sister - there at the Auschwitz train station.” Kleinman and his brother were selected for work while the rest of the family selected for immediate death. “We were in a group of 3,000 youths that summer in Auschwitz. Dr. Mengele exterminated 1,000 of us at Rosh Hashanah and another 1,000 on the Eve of Yom Kippur. We had to get out!” With great ingenuity and a good dose of luck Kleinman and his brother managed to sneak out on a transport to Landsberg-Kaufering camps near Dachau where they were force-labored to build shell-proof bunkers to serve the Luftwaffe for a secret Messerschmitt ME-262 twin jet fighter plane development project. “Our dream was to get work. We thought that working would guarantee our lives. But conditions were terrible. There was no hot water to wash and the cement stuck to our faces. I did my best to clean myself and preserve my self-dignity. Eventually the camp was turned into a camp for the sick and dying and my brother and I both became sick, but we knew that whoever lay down sick would never get up.” Symbolically inline with the theme of this year’s Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Day - ‘My Brother’s Keeper’: “I survived thanks to my brother. He wouldn’t let me give up hope. I was one of the youngest in the camp. We were lucky. We were very alert and agile and took advantage of opportunities.” Liberated from Kaufering by Americans in April 1945 the Kleinman brothers became refugees wandering through Italy carrying passports marked ‘political prisoner’. The Kleinmans were able to board the “Four Freedoms” illegal immigration.

On June 7, 1961, he was the youngest witness in the Eichmann trial.