Sami

Sami Steigmann

Sami was born in 1939 in a small village in Romania. He was only one and a half years old when his family was arrested in 1941. He was deported with his parents to the Mogilev-Podolsky labor camp, where they were held prisoners for three years. The Nazis conducted a number of medical experiments on Sami, and he still suffers from the after-effects of it today. In 1944, Sami and his parents were liberated by the Russian army. In 1946, a baby girl was born into the family. The four of them then returned to Romania for fifteen years before emigrating to Israel in 1961. Then in 1968, Sami moved to the USA. After several years of personal turmoil (divorce and other issues), Sami became homeless and lived in a homeless shelter for several months. Suicidal thoughts would haunt him until the age of 68 when he finally started to speak up about his past. Sharing his experience gave him a new lease on life. Since then, he has travelled the country, giving numerous lectures to educate young (and not so young) generations.