Michael Baum

1924 - 2014

MICHAEL BAUM March 1, 1924 - Oct. 5, 2014 Michael passed away peacefully in Greenbrae, California with his family at his side, at the age of 90. Michael, a holocaust survivor, was born in Radom, Poland where he spent his childhood and grew up in a Jewish community. Since the age of 16 he endured years of Nazi labor camps and concentration camps. Michael often shared stories of his daring escapes from ghettos and death camps, jumping from a moving train headed to Treblinka and hiding for months at a time in the wilderness. While Michael miraculously survived the Holocaust, the majority of his family and friends were killed by the war's end in 1945. After liberation, Michael and other survivors were sent to Mittenwald, Germany where they were housed in abandoned hotels and participated in nightly beer drinking and dancing to celebrate their freedom. During this time Michael met, and quickly married, the love of his life, Ida Baum who was also a recently liberated Holocaust survivor from Lithuania. Emerging from the Holocaust as one of the sole survivors of his family at age 21, Michael, along with Ida, left Germany in 1948 and emigrated to the United States where they would build their new lives together and set out to pursue the American dream. Michael and Ida settled in San Francisco in 1948 where they had two sons, Harold and Barry, and opened several small businesses in San Francisco and the Bay Area ranging from chicken farmer in Cotati to owner of Joe's Ice Cream in San Francisco. Success in these business ventures allowed him to pioneer what would become a successful career as a real estate investor. Michael lived close to his sons and grandchildren in Marin County, and he enjoyed participating in many family holidays, celebrations and important benchmarks of his children's, grandchildren's lives. Spending his life dedicated to his family, Michael worked selflessly to provide every possible opportunity to his children and grandchildren. Michael is survived by his son Harold Baum, grandchildren Jeffrey Baum and Maria Baum, daughter-in-law Jane Gianino, and nieces Paulette Miller and Estelle Baum. He is predeceased by his wife of 65 years Ida Baum, son Barry Baum and his brother Kalman Baum.