Cantor Leo Fettman was born Eliezer Fettman on March 27, 1925 in Nyiradony, Hungary. His parents Yaakov and Feige Ester, along with his two brothers Dezso, Sandor and his sister Margit were imprisoned in a ghetto and then driven by boxcar to Auschwitz. Most of his family were killed immediately. He worked in a crematorium before he was used in medical experiments by Dr. Josef Mengele (also known as "Dr. Death"). After being falsely accused of a crime he didn't commit, he was sent to the gallows to be hung. The noose broke and spared his life.
In his bookSHOAH:Journey from the Ashes, (as told by Paul M. Howey) he describes what was involved to make it through with perseverance:"...I began to get tears in my eyes as I heard another voice join in the singing, and then another. Soon there were many voices and I added mine to this most unlikely of choirs in this most unlikely of places."
(from Chapter Five, "Rails to Slaughter")
After liberation he returned to his home in Nyirandony, but his emotional state wasn't stable enough for him to stay. He left for Canada where he studied at Maor Hagolah Rabbinical Yeshiva in Montreal and North Bay Canada. In 1960 he moved to the U.S. Currently, he travels all over the country giving lectures detailing his experience, the nature of the Holocaust, and confronting Holocaust deniers.
SHOAH:Journey from the Ashes
