Joseph Schleifstein

Joseph Schleifstein is a Polish-born American who survived the Buchenwald concentration camp at the age of four. He was hidden by his father in a large sack, enabling him to avoid detection by SS guards when arriving at the camp. Other prisoners helped his father keep him hidden and Schleifstein survived until the Americans liberated the camp. After the war, Schleifstein and his parents emigrated to the United States. He did not discuss his wartime experiences for decades, even with his children. His case was discovered by chance in 1999 with the anniversary of the movie Life is Beautiful being celebrated. It was discovered Schleifstein's story was inspiration for the script. This led to a search for him and an eventual newspaper interview.