Murray Schwartzbaum

1921 - 2015
Murray Schwartzbaum, of Boca Raton, FL, died on Saturday (December 12, 2015) at his home. He was 94. Born on August 15, 1921 in Szczekociny, Poland, Murray was a holocaust survivor. One of six children, only he and one sister (Cesia Sillman) survived. Murray met his first wife Fela in the Bergen Belsen DP camp after liberation and married in Regensburg, Germany in 1945. In 1949 they immigrated with their daughter to Brooklyn, NY. With no language and no money, Murray knew one thing: hard work will help you survive. A few years later he was the proud owner of a grocery store in Brooklyn. After Fela passed away unexpectedly at age 41, leaving Murray with three children ages 5, 12 and 18, he remarried another survivor, Tosia Jakubs. They were married for 46 years until cancer took her away in 2014. Murray cherished time with his family, especially his nine grandchildren and 11 great-children, his "dividends."

In 2010, a memoir of his life, "What Papa Told Me", written by his granddaughter, was published and has sold thousands of copies around the world, been endorsed by Elie Weisel, is taught in classrooms and has been translated into Polish. Murray spoke to hundreds of students even up to last year, and after each talk he would say to his granddaughter, "We did something good."

Murray is survived by his three children, Shelly and her husband Richard Cohen of Centerville, MA, Sidney Schwartzbaum and his wife Jeanne of Staten Island, NY, and Mark Schwartzbaum of the Bronx, NY. A memorial service will be held on December 16 at noon at the Star of David Chapel, 1236 Wellwood Avenue, West Babylon, NY. Contributions may be sent to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum or to 3GNY, an organization of grandchildren of holocaust survivors dedicated to keeping alive the memories and stories of their grandparents.