Isaac Niederman was born in Satu-Mare, Rumania. He had four brothers and two sisters. He is the only survivor from his family. In 1944, Isaac was conscripted into a Hungarian "labor battalion" and forced to remove debris from bombed out buildings. In Budapest, Isaac escaped and found his way to Raoul Wallenberg, the Swedish "diplomat" who was helping Jewish people. Isaac received a fake Swedish passport ("Schutz-pass"). It momentarily exempted him from Nazi deportation to Auschwitz-Birkenau. During the last months of the war, Isaac avoided round-ups and massacres in Budapest. Afterwards, he made his way to a "Displaced Persons" camp in Italy where he met his future wife Dora. They moved to New Orleans in 1950.
This series was funded by the Rita and Harold Divine Foundation, the Siggy Boraks Family, and made possible by the generous contribution of video production services of WDSU-TV in New Orleans.