Solomon Radasky

Biography
Solomon Radasky, born on May 17, 1910 in Warsaw, Poland has an incredible story how he was one of the few that survived the brutality of the Holocaust. He was a normal business man January 1, 1941, but the very day after, he was captured by S.S. men and was forced to clean snow off of railroads. The S.S. men were, “Founded in 1925, the “Schutzstaffel,” German for “Protective Echelon,” initially served as Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler's (1889-1945) personal bodyguards, and later became one of the most powerful and feared organizations in all of Nazi Germany.” according to (http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/ss). Little did he know that this was the start of a huge event in history that will never be forgotten. 

On January the 25th of 1941, Radasky’s mother and oldest sister were shot because they did not have any jewelry to give to the officers who were collecting coats and jewelry from all of the Jews. Solomon, unfortunately, found both of them laying on the ground dead whilst walking around. Now, not only did he not have his mother and one of his sisters, he did not know where the rest of his siblings were nor his father, he had to go to death and concentration camps by himself. Some time had passed and he was doing as well as anyone would in a concentration camp, until he found out some tragic news, his father was killed. On April 1, 1942, his father was pronounced dead; he was shot by an officer for trying to buy a very small amount of bread from children. 

Though Solomon had lost nearly everything, quitting never crossed his mind, he was determined to survive this war. Shortly after the death of his father, deportations began. Solomon was sent to a different camp than the rest of his siblings; they were sent to Treblinka and that was the last time he ever saw them. Many months have past and it was April 30th, 1943 and Radasky was shot in the right ankle for no reason by a Nazi solider, picked up, thrown on a train, and was sent to Majdanek death camp. He was stripped of all of his clothing and was forced to walk 3 kilometers, fighting through the pain of his ankle, trying to not have a limp, fearing his death. After nine excruciating weeks of being at Majdanek, he was finally sent away, but to another camp. On July 2, 1943 he was sent to Auschwitz concentration camp, which is one of the most known camps due to their harshness towards the Jews. At Auschwitz, they had a very unorganized way of killing. They would pull a certain amount identification numbers out of a jar and whoever’s number was picked was tortured to death. Thankfully, Solomon’s number wasn’t ever picked. After this, he was put straight to work; he moved sand, which to him was an advantage because the people who came by there had food and they were willing to share with him. A few months later, Auschwitz was beginning to be liquidated by the Germans, therefore Radasky was free! Then, of course, he was sent to another concentration camp called Dachav. Thankfully, he was only there for a very short amount of time before the Americans came and took over and liberated the camp. 

On April 30, 1945, Solomon Radasky was finally freed for the torture. Very quickly after he was freed, he moved back to his hometown. He met his wife on August 1, 1945, married her on November 10,1946, then they packed their bags and moved to the United States. Shortly after they moved over, they had a son and moved to New Orleans, Louisiana; where Solomon got a job at a fur shop. Many years had passed, Solomon and his family went on their first vacation to Israel on September 1, 1978. Solomon took his last breath August 4, 2002 at his home in Oakland Park, Kansas at the age of 92. Solomon Radasky was very well known for is brutal story of surviving the Holocaust. He wanted to make sure his story was told to the future generation and it definitely spread very quickly. Though Solomon Radasky is gone, he will never be forgotten.