Born in Zarki, Poland, in 1940, Michael Bornstein was only four years old when he was shoved into a cattle car bound for Auschwitz. As he recalls it, “there was no room to breathe.” One of seven children, Michael and his entire family were deported there together. He vividly remembers the Nazis lining entire families up for execution.

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After learning about the death of his father and brother, Michael’s mother almost took her own life by touching the electrical fence at Auschwitz, but her fierce determination to survive for her remaining children ultimately overpowered her grief. After being liberated in 1945, Michael reunited with his mother and remaining siblings. They attempted to return to their hometown but were met with entrenched antisemitism and open hostility. Ultimately, they immigrated to the United States where Michael received a degree in Pharmacy from the University of Iowa.