Melvin Federbush's Holocaust Survivor Stories

Life before, during and after the holocaust with Buchenwald survivor, Melvin Federbush.

In hour 5 of this series, he reveals his harrowing experiences while in Nazi occupied Poland. Melvin Federbush was born in Deblin, Poland, July 1923. He attended Cheder and Yeshiva as well as high school. Within eight days of Hitler's invasion of Poland, his parents and nine year old twin sisters were killed during a bombing attack. Melvin was taken prisoner during the Nazi occupation and forced to live in ghettos and concentration camps including Triglitz and the infamous Buchenwald.

While being transported to Theresienstadt in a cattle car he escaped. Pretending to be a Polish Christian he managed to find work on a farm until the Russian army advanced into Germany and liberated prisoners in the area as well as him. Of his entire family of approximately 110 people, only he and his brother survived.

After the war Melvin lived in Zurich and Lugano, Switzerland where he continued his education. In 1950 he immigrated to the United States and eventually became a fine arts dealer.

Melvin is active in his community. He participates in the Westchester Holocaust Education Center, the Westchester Hemophilia Association, the Holocaust Museum in Washington, and the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York City. He is a member of Yad V'Shem in Jerusalem, the World Jewish Congress and B'nai B'rith, and a long-standing member of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.

Most recently he helped to organize the Holocaust Generations (children of survivors) and the Debliner Societies in NY and Florida. Melvin speaks publicly of his experiences to high school students and other organizations.