Rotarian - Sam

It’s always great to hear our fellow Rotarians share their personal stories. Last Tuesday we had the opportunity to hear from two of our club members, a 54 -year member, Sam Harris and a more recent one, Ned Schechter a 3 year one. Two very different stories, from visionaries with this interesting thing in common (besides Rotary) both happened to attend Grinnell Collage!

 

Here is my favorite take-away from the program – and although it applies to both speakers – it’s a Sam Harris quote.

 

Sam Harris shared his life story. He has had an incredible life, one of challenge and inspiration. It may not have been evident, but Sam living is the result of this ‘stick your neck out’ lesson.

 

The youngest of seven children, Sam shared his vivid memories of being a four year old experiencing the beginning of WWII in his native Poland. He remembered the Nazi airplanes flying overhead shooting down the Polish planes and people. A couple of years later, Sam was saved by his father who in an act of heartbreaking bravery, pushed him to hide with his sister behind a pile of bricks. He was taken to a concentration camp and Sam never saw him again.

 

This was not the last time Sam’s life was saved.  A stranger ‘stuck his neck out’ to save Sam and a few other children from certain death at the camps. When the Nazi’s were separating the adults from the children, planning to shoot the children who were too young to work, a father who had received a letter from the Nazi’s to keep his own daughter with him, demanded to take all five of the children. This man told the soldiers “all or nothing” saving the four children which included Sam.

 

These children were brought into the camp giving hope to the adults there. They ‘cried tears of joy’ having not seen Jewish children in years, hugging and kissing Sam, something he will never forget.

 

After the war, and after moving around a bit, Sam found himself on the ship called Ernie Pyle headed to the USA, where after landing in New York City, then to Chicago by train, Sam was adopted by a family in Northbrook on April 10, 1948 on Hickory Lane where he excelled in school, joined scouts and graduated from college and on to a career in insurance.

 

In the late 1970s when he started sharing his account of the Holocaust, it came to his attention that there was a book by a Holocaust denier. Sam felt he must ‘stick his neck out’ so no one would forget. With the support and encouragement of his wife, Dede, his Rabbi, and the help from many of his Rotary connections Sam was on the path to spearheading the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center.

 

He ‘stuck his neck out’ going for advice and funding from the likes of people such as J.B. Pritzker founding a place that would be “A beacon of hope where we, our children and grandchildren will learn from the past and make sure that this or any kind of Holocaust does not happen in the future.”

 

One and a half million children were killed in the holocaust. Sam was a witness to the holocaust and didn’t just survive, he has made sure none of us ever forget.  

 

Like Sam, we must all remember “When you want to do something, you stick your neck out, then you gotta do it.”  

 

EARLY YEARS:

Samuel R. Harris was four years old in 1939 when Hitler overran the town in which he lived, Demblin, Poland. Hitler destroyed Mr. Harris’ large family. He spent three and a half years in two concentration camps: Demblin and Czestochowa. At age nine and a half, he was miraculously liberated by the Russian Army on January 17, 1945.

 

EDUCATION EXPERIENCE:

Sam Harris is a 1958 graduate of Grinnell College, Grinnell, Iowa, where he received his Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science. He joined the Equitable Life Assurance Society in 1960 and became a member of the exclusive Equitable Hall of Fame. Sam served on the Chicago Board of Life Underwriters and President of the General Agency Managers Association. As an agent, he became a Life Member of the Million Dollar Round Table.

 

COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES:

Sam Harris has been very active in community and scholastic affairs. He is a former board member of Spertus College of Judaica. He served on the Board of Directors for Forest Hospital. He is currently on the Board of Directors of South-Central Bank in Chicago. Sam Harris has been a member (and former officer) of The Rotary Club of Northbrook, Illinois for 45 years. He is a former President of Northbrook United Way.

 

Sam Harris spearheaded the building of the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center. He currently serves as President Emeritus of the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center in Skokie, Illinois. He speaks frequently to schools, churches and community groups throughout the country about his childhood experiences during the Holocaust, lessons he learned during the time he spent hiding in concentration camps, and his experience and role in the building of the Holocaust Museum in Illinois.

A Holocaust Museum is in the process of being organized in the Phoenix area and Mr. Harris is currently serving on it’s Board of Directors.

 

AUTHOR: In 2001 Mr. Harris wrote his autobiography, Sammy, Child Survivor of the Holocaust and in 2005 and 2010 the second and third edition were published. Spanish, Japanese, Russian and Polish editions are now available.

AWARDS:

CURRENTLY: A documentary has been produced about Sam Harris by Eric Cosh and Ellen Palestrant, titled: SAMMY THE JOURNEY.

The documentary has been accepted by the Jewish Film Festival in the following cities:

Sam Harris resides with his wife Dede in the northern suburbs of Chicago, Illinois and winters in Scottsdale, Arizona. Their children include daughter Julie and her husband Jeff and their two children Jeremy and Jessica. Their son David is recently deceased.