Nathan Elbaum, who saw the Holocaust, dies at 87 | Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle

Nathan Elbaum, who saw the Holocaust, dies at 87

MADISON – Nathan Elbaum, who personally experienced the Warsaw Ghetto and the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp, died on Jan. 18, 2017. He was 87.

He was a resident of Madison when he died, but life started for him in Warsaw, Poland on August 19, 1929, according to an obituary.

He was 10 when the war began in Poland. He lived in the Warsaw Ghetto with his family until 1945 when his building was set aflame by German soldiers. He spent 16 months at Auschwitz-Birkenau before being transferred to a series of camps.

Elbaum provided a four-hour oral history interview to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, according to its records.

Elbaum did not care to be labelled as a “survivor” because he thought that made people prejudge him, according to the obituary, which added that most people knew him as an intellectual, a kind person, a great father and a wonderful friend.

Cress Funeral & Cremation Service in Madison provided funeral services.