Name Tsvi Nussbaum | Died July 2, 2012 | |
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Similar People Josef Blosche, Jurgen Stroop, Mordechai Anielewicz, Ferdinand von Sammern‑Frankenegg, Yitzhak Zuckerman | ||
Tsvi Chaim Nussbaum (August 31 1935 – July 2 2012) was a Holocaust survivor, known as possibly being the boy in a famous photograph of the Warsaw Ghetto.
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Early life
Nussbaum's parents immigrated to Mandatory Palestine, where he was born in 1935. However, they found life too difficult there, and so returned in 1939 to Sandomierz in Poland. After the German invasion of Poland in 1939 Nussbaum's mother and father were murdered before the Jews of the region were sent to various German Nazi concentration camps. Tsvi's brother disappeared, never to be seen again. Shortly thereafter Tsvi, his aunt and uncle along with his first cousins Aaron and Mark Nussbaum and their mother Regina moved to Warsaw and, posing as gentiles, lived there for over a year. When caught, they were deported to the concentration camp at Bergen-Belsen.
Survival
After 1945, Tsvi moved to The British Mandate of Palestine. After living in Israel for eight years, he moved to the United States. Initially, he did not speak English, but having a talent for science, he later studied medicine and became an otolaryngologist in New York City.
Identity dispute
There are several considerations that count against Nussbaum being the boy in the photograph. Nussbaum's family was arrested at the Hotel Polski, which is not in the Warsaw ghetto (where all of the photos from the Stroop Report are generally thought to have been taken). Furthermore, he claims the incident took place on July 13 1943. This was nearly two months after the Stroop report was completed and sent to Himmler and Kruger. The German soldiers would not have needed combat uniforms at the hotel. The heavy clothing worn by most of the Jews suggests that the photograph was taken in May.