William Herskovic
Encyclopedia
The Holocaust
The Holocaust , also known as the Shoah , was the genocide of approximately six million European Jews and millions of others during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored murder by Nazi...
survivor and humanitarian. His escape from Auschwitz
Auschwitz concentration camp
Concentration camp Auschwitz was a network of Nazi concentration and extermination camps built and operated by the Third Reich in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany during World War II...
in 1942 and early eyewitness testimony inspired Belgium's
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
opposition to Nazi
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, and alerted the Resistance
Resistance during World War II
Resistance movements during World War II occurred in every occupied country by a variety of means, ranging from non-cooperation, disinformation and propaganda to hiding crashed pilots and even to outright warfare and the recapturing of towns...
to the atrocities that were taking place in the concentration camps. Because of Herskovic's escape and testimony, hundreds of lives were saved.
Herskovic is also the founder of Bel Air Camera, a veritable landmark in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, which he established in 1957, and has received numerable awards for his philanthropy
Philanthropy
Philanthropy etymologically means "the love of humanity"—love in the sense of caring for, nourishing, developing, or enhancing; humanity in the sense of "what it is to be human," or "human potential." In modern practical terms, it is "private initiatives for public good, focusing on quality of...
.
Early life
Herskovic was born in June 1914 in what was then HungaryHungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
.
His mother died when he was only 6 months old, and his father had many children by a second wife, so he was raised mainly by his maternal grandparents.
Herskovic, who spoke 9 languages, dropped out of school at the age of 13 in order to take his brother's place as a photographer's apprentice. By the age of 15 he was running photo studios across Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
and winning awards as an artist for his skill in photographic retouching.
By the age of 17, he had started his own photo studio, Studio Willy, that quickly gained fame across Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
.
He married his first wife, Esther, and they had two girls—Giselle (Katie) Herskovic, born in 1938, and Germaine Herskovic, born in 1941.
Holocaust experiences
Herskovic's businesses were confiscated by the Germans and he, his wife and their two baby girls were sent to a concentration camp. All though he wouldn't find out until a long time later, his wife and two daughters were killed in a gas chamberGas chamber
A gas chamber is an apparatus for killing humans or animals with gas, consisting of a sealed chamber into which a poisonous or asphyxiant gas is introduced. The most commonly used poisonous agent is hydrogen cyanide; carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide have also been used...
almost immediately upon their arrival.
Herskovic was sent to an Auschwitz hard labor camp where he wasn't expected to live long on about 130 calories a day.
Herskovic set about planning an escape, and on the first night of Hanukkah
Hanukkah
Hanukkah , also known as the Festival of Lights, is an eight-day Jewish holiday commemorating the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem at the time of the Maccabean Revolt of the 2nd century BCE...
, 1942, Herskovic and two others dug a pair of wire cutters out from beneath layers of snow where they had hidden them, and cut through chain-link fences during a blizzard.
The three ran through the snow for hours towards freedom.
Herskovic then warned the Belgian underground of what was going on in the camps. "Do not go peacefully, they are killing us by the hundreds," he is quoted as saying in Escape to Life: A Journey Through the Holocaust, his biography.
"His survival saved hundreds," according to a Simon Wiesenthal Center
Simon Wiesenthal Center
The Simon Wiesenthal Center , with headquarters in Los Angeles, California, was established in 1977 and named for Simon Wiesenthal, the Nazi hunter. According to its mission statement, it is "an international Jewish human rights organization dedicated to repairing the world one step at a time...
tribute.
Herskovic then went undercover, carefully crafting false papers and getting a job camouflaging the beaches of Normandy, where he was in fact observing military installations and drawing sketches to send back to the resistance.
After the war
Herskovic, discovering that his wife and children had been killed, asked his first wife's younger sister, Maria, for her hand in marriage (her husband had also been killed in the Holocaust). She accepted.They had three children, all girls, and moved to America
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. In Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, Herskovic founded Bel Air Camera in 1957 in Westwood Village, which is still a family-owned business to this day.
From the moment he immigrated to the U.S. with his wife, Mireille, they began their heartfelt dedication to philanthropy, contributing to communities whenever possible. With an understandable commitment to his history, he was a founding supporter of the U.S. Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. where a plaque proudly commemorates, and hopefully puts to rest, all the beloved family he lost who were never given the benefit of gravestones. He was also dedicated to the Simon Wiesenthal Museum of Tolerance in hopes, “that education and awareness will prevent prejudice and hatred in the future.” Additionally, he and his wife have been loyal supporters of numerous organizations including: UJF, ADL, Friends of Sheba Medical Center, Friends of Israel Disabled Veterans, Technion, UCLA’s Hillel, Milken Community High School, Stephen S. Wise Temple, The Jesters (a charity helping blind children), Israel Cancer Research Fund, and others.
Awards
Throughout his life, Herskovic received numerous awards for his heroic and philanthropicPhilanthropy
Philanthropy etymologically means "the love of humanity"—love in the sense of caring for, nourishing, developing, or enhancing; humanity in the sense of "what it is to be human," or "human potential." In modern practical terms, it is "private initiatives for public good, focusing on quality of...
work. Most recently, he was given the Humanitarian Award by the Israel Cancer Research Fund.
Death
William Herskovic died on March 3, 2006 at his home in Encino, CACalifornia
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
after a long battle with prostate cancer
Prostate cancer
Prostate cancer is a form of cancer that develops in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system. Most prostate cancers are slow growing; however, there are cases of aggressive prostate cancers. The cancer cells may metastasize from the prostate to other parts of the body, particularly...
. He was 91. Herskovic is survived by his wife, Maria, their three children, four grandchildren and great-grandchild.
External links
- HerskovicFoundation.org
- Bel Air Camera
- From The Times of London: Photographer who spent the war on the run from the Holocaust and survived it to find prosperity in America
- AP obituary via Washington Post: William Herskovic, Witness to Holocaust
- Archived Excerpt of the Los Angeles Times obituary: William Herskovic, 91; Bel Air Camera Founder Escaped Auschwitz, Fueled Belgian Resistance
- European Jewish Press obituary: Auschwitz escapee Herskovic dies at 91
- CBS 2 video clip: Bel Air Camera Founder, Holocaust Survivor Dies