Solomon Radasky

A block of houses burning in the Warsaw Ghetto (www.holocasutsurvivors.org)

Did you know that Solomon Radasky survived the Warsaw Ghetto and the Holocaust? He survived but he was the only survivor out of his family of 78 people. His entire town was decimated by the Nazis. Solomon was shot in the foot and he had to eat rotten bread. After the horror of the Holocaust and the Warsaw Ghetto, he still managed to live a productive life.

Solomon Radasky is my hero. He is from Warsaw, Poland. He was born on May 17, 1910, and lived during the era of World War II and the Holocaust. He died at age 92, on August 4, 2002. My hero made a difference in the world by telling the story of the Holocaust, because if people keep telling this story, it won't happen again in history. Solomon Radasky’s mother was killed the last week of January, 1941. While smuggling food with children, his father was shot in the back after an SD pointed him out to a German officer.

Solomon Radasky was a furrier at a place called Tobbens' Shop. They made short woolen jackets for the German army. Today, we call them Eisenhower Jackets. One day a friend told Solomon that his sister was working in a shop three kilometers away and he didn’t know the way, so he got a German officer to take him for 500 zlotys, which was a lot of money. He never made it back. His sister was killed on the same day as his mother.

I believe that Solomon fits all of the qualities of a hero. I believe he is a "hero on the spot" because during some moments he needed to be stronger than others. An example of this is when his mother and sister were killed. He needed to be extremely strong to get through that. I believe he is a "survivor hero" because it takes a lot of strength to survive the Holocaust and the Warsaw Ghetto. An example of this is when Solomon came home and found out his sister and his mother had been killed. I believe it would be very hard to continue through life after an experience like this. I believe that Solomon was also a "hero near and far" because he is a great inspiration to all. I believe this because he survived the Holocaust and the Warsaw Ghetto and led a productive life.

After the American soldiers rescued him, Solomon moved to New Orleans, Louisiana. He couldn’t even speak English. He went to work at a fur shop and sewed for fifty cents an hour, even though the beginning wage was seventy-five cents. For fifty dollars, he bought a sewing machine and started to do what he did before the Holocaust and the Warsaw Ghetto. There were 375,000 Jews living in Warsaw before the war. There are only 5,000 living there today. This is why it is important for Solomon to tell his story.