Roman Lubetzky

Roman Lubetsky (M / Lithuania, 1930), Holocaust survivor

• KEYWORDS : <Kovno Ghetto> <Dachau> <Liberation of Dachau> -- <Mexico>

Biography

Holocaust survivor Roman Lubetzky z’l was born in 1930 in Riga, Latvia and moved to Kovno, Lithuania at a young age. When the Germans invaded the country in 1941, the Nazis, with the help of the Lithuanians, initiated a systematic campaign to exterminate the more than 200,000 Jews of Lithuania. By the end of the year, only 40,000 Jews remained, and they were forced into four localized ghettos. Roman, his parents, and his older brother were forced into the Kovno Ghetto, where they remained until 1943 when the ghetto was liquidated. They spent about 6 months in a nearby labor camp before being shipped by cattle cars to Germany. Roman’s mother was sent to Stutthof, while her husband and sons were sent to Dachau. Roman, along with his father and brother, miraculously survived in Dachau until they were liberated by American troops in April 1945. At that time, Roman was 6 ft tall and weighed a mere 70 lbs. Among the soldiers who liberated them was Susumu Ito, a 26-year-old lieutenant in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. As a Japanese-American, Ito’s own family had been uprooted and placed in internment camps after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Yet Ito risked his life to free people like Roman, who were complete strangers to him. After extensive recuperation, Roman emigrated to Mexico in 1947 to start a new life. Despite having experienced humanity in its darkest hour, Roman always believed in the power of kindness, and encouraged his four children to be courageous and compassionate individuals.