Goldberg, Mel

Mel Goldberg was born in the summer of 1942, in Baila Rawska, Warsaw.  He was born into a family with two brothers and one sister, but none survived the war.  Mel’s town was liquidated in 1942 , and the family was sent to Treblinka, a death camp located in Poland.  As Mel’s father had given his newborn son to a local cobbler, Mel was protected and was the only member of his family to survive, though he has few direct memories of the time.  When the war was over, Mel spent time in an orphanage – and it was there that the news of his survival came to light, and distant relatives searched for him.   Several years later he was able to move to Toronto, where he began his new life.  Mel was originally interviewed for this project in the February 2014 by Josh Weisbrod.  In December 2017 he visited us at Crestwood, sitting down for a second interview with Ken Wu, Max Wolburgh, and Canyon Li.

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