In 1951, when Sidney was 20 he moved to the United States of America to join his sister Lola and her family. To become a citizen of the United States he had to go to the Embassy in England to be asked a few questions. One of the questions was to…

In 1946, when Sidney was fourteen he began to go back to school at the Bunce Court Boarding School. Sidney knew enough English to follow along and ask questions about what was going on in class. He struggled with schooling at the start because of…

As Germany was losing the war, the German Guards were ordered to destroy any evidence of the German’s crimes at the camp. They lined up all the prisoners onto cars to be sent elsewhere. One day before Buchenwald was liberated by the Americans,…

In 1944, when Sidney was 13 his father and brother were transferred to a new concentration camp called Buchenwald in Germany. During this time, Sidney was alone and had to change his mentality to be able to survive on his own. All that he could rely…

In November 1944, rumors began to spread that many of the Jews would be evacuated again to another camp. This brought tremendous fear among the surviving Jews at the labor camp. Within less than a month Sidney would turn 13 years of age and be a Bar…

In 1943, twelve year old Sidney, his father Lieb and brother Isaac were sent to a slave labor camp in Bugaj, Poland. At the conclusion of the deportations, the Nazis hung a sign at the railroad station of Piotrkow saying, “PIOTRKOW IS CLEANSED OF…

When they arrived in Sulejow it was very crowded as many people from Piotrkow had traveled to Sulejow. Many families were greeting each other, and spirits were up for everyone was with someone. However, very short after Sidney began to hear the…

Sidney Finkel was born Sevek Finkelstein in Piotrkow, Poland on December 19, 1931. For the average boy, let alone a Jewish boy, to be born in the early 1930s. Hitler would become the Chancellor of Germany in 1933, the Great Depression was at its…

Marion currently lives in the suburbs of Phoenix, Arizona. She can be seen at local Holocaust Survivor gatherings by the Phoenix Holocaust Association. She also continues to go to schools and other events speaking about her childhood during and…

It was a Friday when Marion’s father took her to midtown Toronto to officially move in with her aunt and uncle Jacob. Marion told her father “please, I want to stay with you please I don't want to go and live with them”. At first Marion had a…