Sami Steigmann was born on December 21, 1939, in Czernovitz, Bukovina, in what is today Ukraine.

‍

From 1941 through 1944, Sami and his parents were held prisoner in a labor camp in Transnistria. Too young to work, he was subjected to Nazi medical experimentation, the effects of which he continues to feel physically to this day. Conditions in the camp were brutal – starvation and the harsh Russian winters pushed his family to the edge of survival. Sami’s father gave away his winter coat for a loaf of bread.

‍

At one point, a German woman who supplied food to the nearby guards noticed Sami was dying of starvation and intervened to save his life. She was eventually recognized by Yad Vashem as a Righteous Among the Nations. 

‍

The camp was eventually liberated by the Red Army. After the war, Sami grew up in Reghin, a small town in Transylvania. In 1961, his family emigrated to Israel, where he served in the Israeli Air Force. In 1968 he made his way to the United States, settling in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with no money and no knowledge of English. He later returned to Israel in 1983 before coming back to the United States permanently in 1988, making New York City his home. Today, Sami lectures widely about his experiences, educating future generations about his story.