Samuel Lee Fireman, a Holocaust survivor, passed away Dec. 21, 2012, in Denver. Rabbi Bruce Dollin and Cantor Martin Goldstein officiated at the Dec. 24 service held at the HEA. Interment followed at Rose Hill Cemetery. Feldman Mortuary made the arrangements.
A survivor of the Holocaust, Sam inspired all who knew him because of his optimism, energy, generosity and complete joy in living, the family said.
Mr. Fireman was born Aug. 20, 1914, in Zjarke, Poland. He served in the Polish Cavalry from 1938 to 1939.
He married Helen Weizman on March 28, 1940.
Mr. Fireman and his wife were sent to a slave labor camp in Pionki, Poland, where they remained from 1940 to 1944.
In 1944, Mr. Fireman was deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau, and Mrs. Fireman was deported to Bergen-Belsen.
Read the IJN editorial eulogizing Sam Fireman
The day before the inmate uprising at Auschwitz, Mr. Fireman ran into his youngest brother Aaron, a member of the underground.
Aaron told him that the inmates assigned to work at Crematorium IV found out the Nazis planned to murder them. In reponse, they devised a plan to destroy the crematorium.
Aaron told Sam to stay alive and tell the world what happened here.
Mr. Fireman escaped on a train headed for Landsberg, a camp in Germany.
On Oct. 7, 1944, Aaron and his fellow inmates blew up Crematorium IV. The Nazis quickly crushed the revolt. Aaron was killed, along with most of the others inmates.
In April, 1945, Mr. Fireman was forced to go on a death march to Dachau. He fell asleep in a ditch one night, expecting to be shot. The next day he was liberated.
He was sent to a DP camp in Stuttgart, Germany, where he was reunited with his wife Helen. With the exception of one sister, Mr. Firemans entire family perished, but Helen had no idea about her familys fate.
When he met a man who was returning to Pionki, Poland, Mr. Fireman wrote a note explaining Helens whereabouts. The man put it up at the Pionki train station.
Her mother, sister and grandmother read the note and came to Stuttgart in May, 1945.
The couple arrived in Denver in 1949.
A small business owner, Mr. Fireman retired in 1988.
Helen passed away on April 19, 2001.
Mr. Fireman is survived by his son Hal Fireman and daughter Lilly Fireman (Bruce) Marks; and grandchildren Lara Marks (Todd) Baker, Deborah Marks (Bradd) Williams, Elizabeth Fireman and Lucas Fireman, all of Denver.
Contributions may be made to DUs Holocaust Awareness Institute or the HEA.
Copyright © 2013 by the Intermountain Jewish News
