Leon was 10 years old in 1941 when the Nazis invaded his hometown of Czernowitz, Romania, now Ukraine. He and his family were deported to a ghetto, surviving enormous hardships that included illness and starvation. Leon and his family walked over 200 miles to return to Czernowitz after liberation. They ended up in four different displaced persons camps in Germany before they were able to immigrate to the U.S. as refugees in 1951.

Special thanks to our program partners Jewish Family and Children’s Services and the William J. Lowenberg Speakers Bureau.