On April 7^th, AFI hosted Holocaust survivor Isidor Nussenbaum as part of plans to observe Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day).

Beginning with music to set the tone of the presentation, Isidor reflected on his life experiences in the Nazi concentration camps, and how those experiences have shaped the rest of his life.  Born in Germany to Polish parents and one of five siblings, US immigration quotas prevented Isidor from escaping Nazi persecution in the late 1930s.  Having survived the concentration camps of Kaiserwald and Stutthof, and lived through the death march to Rieben, he became conscripted in the Russian army.  When the War ended, he spent three years in a Displaced Persons Camp in West Berlin before joining his two older brothers in the United States in 1948.

In the aftermath of all the tragedy, Isidor found that he had received only three years of formal education.  Recalling an interview where he attempted to enroll Miami Senior High School at the age of 21, Isidor lamented his meager formal education, but remarked that the Holocaust had provided the rest of his ‘schooling’.  After enrolling in the 11^th grade, Isidor went on to finish high school and earn a degree in mechanical engineering at the University of Miami, Florida in 1955.  After living through conditions of such deprivation that he was forced to eat the ashes from a charred horse hoof, his life became far more positive, enjoying 50 years of marriage to his wife (who died only two years ago) and rearing two daughters.

Isidor has recently self-published a memoir, He’s Not Coming Here Anymore: A Survivor’s Story, which provides another illuminating view of a dark chapter in world history.

We thank Isidor for visiting us at UC Irvine and connecting with our community.