Ben Lesser
Journey Description
Ben Lesser was born in Kraków, Poland in 1928. He was born into a family of seven, consisting of his mother, father, two sisters and two brothers. After the German army invaded Poland, the Lesser’s were subject to countless amounts of abuse brought on by the Nazi soldiers. Together with his family, Ben avoided ending up in the Krakow Ghetto, managed to escape a Nazi pogrom, and lived through the notorious Bochnia Ghetto.
Ben would go on to survive even more unimaginable circumstances including four concentration camps, two death trains, and one death march. After so much suffering, he was liberated in Dachau in 1945. Ben and his older sister, Lola, would turn out to be the only remaining survivors out of his immediate family.
At the age of 18, Ben began a new life for himself. He traveled to America without any money or education. He lived briefly in Brooklyn where he went to night-school to learn English before settling in Los Angeles. During his time in Los Angeles, Ben achieved the American Dream. He met the love of his life, Jean Singer, and married her in 1950. The young couple went on to have their two daughters, Sherry and Gail. Ben obtained his Real Estate license and had two successful Real Estate offices, “Ben Lesser & Associates”.
Ben retired in 1995 and moved to Las Vegas, Nevada. Since then, he has devoted his time as a volunteer, telling his story at schools and colleges. Ben founded ZACHOR Holocaust Remembrance Foundation in 2009, dedicated to spreading awareness and ensuring the remembrance of the Holocaust. Ben also published his first memoir, “LIVING A LIFE THAT MATTERS: from Nazi Nightmare to American Dream”, in 2011. In his inspirational biography, he speaks about his journey before and after being liberated.
Today, Ben and Jean are grandparents to multiple grandchildren and have celebrated over 60 years of marriage. Ben Lesser continues to dedicate his life to sharing his testimony in hopes to prevent these atrocities from ever occurring again.
Now travel back in time to experience the journey that Ben went through during the Holocaust. Learn about the different concentration camps, death trains, and death march that he experienced.