Howard and Nancy Kleinberg are survivors of the Holocaust. They have witnessed the terror, the tears, and pain, and have experienced emotions that are inexplicable. They lost their friends and their families, but have managed to open their hearts to one other.

Howard was born in Poland, in 1926 and was the youngest in a family of ten.  The family had looked into emigrating to Canada early in the 1930s, but health concerns did not allow this.  Two of Howard’s older siblings did make the voyage at that time.  The rest of the family stayed in Poland, experiencing the anti-Semitism that was so common at that time.  The coming of the war saw this intensify:  Howard’s family was forced into a ghetto, leaving everything behind.  Eventually the SS held one of their terrible selections, and most of Howard’s family was deported, sent to their deaths in one of the camps.  From there Howard began his life as a slave labourer, moving through a succession of camps as the war raged around him.  Howard ended up in Bergen Belsen, where his health deteriorated, and  it was there that Nancy saved his life. Howard went on to recover in Germany, and in 1948 he made his way to Canada.  Howard and Nancy were able to  reconnect; they married and built a new life in Canada.  Howard and Nancy first came to Crestwood courtesy of the Holocaust Centre of Toronto, and they have since visited us many times, and we have been able to visit them at Baycrest’s Cafe Europa and in their home.