Sol Joseph Wachsberg

Sol Joseph Wachsberg, 93, passed away peacefully on October 15, 2019, at his home in Houston, Texas. He was born in 1926, in Chrzanow, Poland, where he lived with his family in a life typical of middle-class Polish Jews. Just three months after his bar-mitzvah in 1939, the German army invaded Poland and quickly occupied the city. Over the next 5 years, Sol was transported to eleven different concentration, forced labor and death camps, where he experienced starvation and torture and witnessed inhumanity on the largest scale - an experience that came to define his life. Although his parents and many other relatives were murdered in the Nazi gas chambers in Auschwitz, miraculously, Sol, his two brothers and sister survived. Sol emigrated to the United States in 1949 and served in the U.S. Army from 1950 to 1951. He moved to Houston, Texas in 1952, and became a naturalized U.S. citizen, and firmly established himself in the community. He later opened a retail and wholesale meat company, which he owned for forty years. He met and married his beloved Flora and had three children and two grandchildren. In 1983, Sol attended a gathering of Holocaust survivors in Washington, D.C. President Reagan, the keynote speaker, implored survivors to talk about their experiences publicly so they would not be forgotten. Sol thereafter committed himself to educating the public about his experiences and the consequences of unchecked bigotry and racism. Along with Ziggy Izakson, Wolf Finkelman and others, Sol helped establish the speaker's bureau to organize public speaking engagements and personally reached thousands by giving countless speeches over 20 years to middle schools, high schools, universities, synagogues, churches, the US military, and others. His message, one last time, was: "Take advantage of the opportunities life gives you and continue to learn about the Holocaust, Judaism, and the world. Educate yourself and others. Honor and respect every person for their similarities as well as their differences. Most of all, believe in yourself and your own personal strength so that you can triumph and overcome any adversity. Stay focused and know that you can achieve anything." Sol was predeceased by his brothers Charles Wachsberg and David Wachsberg and his sister Ann Blum. He is survived by his devoted wife Flora, children Debbie, Simon & Audrey and Steve, grandchildren David and Daniel, nieces, nephews, and extended family, including especially Vicky Hananel for her efforts to enhance Sol's life during his final years and months. A graveside service will be held on Thursday, October 15, 2019 at 10:00 a.m. at Beth Yeshurun Post Oak Cemetery, 1037 N. Post Oak Rd., Houston, TX 77055.

Sol Joseph Wachsberg

May 25, 1926 - October 15, 2019