Sigmund Strochlitz, 89, Leader in Holocaust Causes, Dies
Sigmund Strochlitz, a Holocaust survivor who worked with his close friend Elie Wiesel to create the National Holocaust Memorial Museum and who led the way in starting the annual “day of remembrance” now observed in every state, died on Oct. 16 at his home in New London, Conn. He was 89.
The museum confirmed his death.
Mr. Strochlitz found success as a Ford dealer, but he could not and did not wish to forget his awful experience in Nazi camps. In an interview with The Hartford Courant in 2003, he said he regretted removing the number tattooed on his arm in Auschwitz.
So in 1978 he readily accepted when Mr. Wiesel asked President Carter to name him to the President’s Commission on the Holocaust. In 2003, Together, a quarterly newspaper published by the American Gathering of Jewish Holocaust Survivors, called him Mr. Wiesel’s “chief lieutenant, his eyes and ears.”
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The museum confirmed his death.
Mr. Strochlitz found success as a Ford dealer, but he could not and did not wish to forget his awful experience in Nazi camps. In an interview with The Hartford Courant in 2003, he said he regretted removing the number tattooed on his arm in Auschwitz.
So in 1978 he readily accepted when Mr. Wiesel asked President Carter to name him to the President’s Commission on the Holocaust. In 2003, Together, a quarterly newspaper published by the American Gathering of Jewish Holocaust Survivors, called him Mr. Wiesel’s “chief lieutenant, his eyes and ears.”