Joseph Greenbaum

Joseph Greenbaum, 90, of Kansas City, MO died November 18, 2011 of complications
related to diabetes. A survivor: Joseph Greenbaum, son Bruce Greenbaum says, was the strongest human being he'll ever meet. A native of Poland, Joseph was a Holocaust survivor who endured four years of slave labor. He lost almost every member of his immediate family to the Nazi death camps. Years later, he told the Midwest Center for Holocaust Education about the day he was freed. The Germans were leading Joseph and thousands of other prisoners on a death march when U.S. forces caught up to them.
"The German guards ran off in the woods," Joseph told the center. 'American tanks came from behind and threw out cigarettes and chocolates." Of his immediate family, only Joseph and his brother Frank survived the war. Their parents and six other siblings perished. In 1949, Joseph came to Kansas City, where his mother's brother helped the young man start a new life, even though he couldn't speak any English, Bruce said.
Within five months of arriving, he was married. He met his wife, Sylvia, when a
close friend set them up on a blind date. He landed a job at a garment company and soon was running his own tailor shop. He eventually brought his brother Frank to America
and helped him find work. Nephew Joe Brown, who grew up across the street from Joseph, remembered how his uncle often worked six or seven days a week. It wasn't unusual for Joseph, a "top-notch tailor," to do alterations at home. "He didn't believe the world or anybody owed him a living," Joe Brown said. He wasn't all work, though. Joseph Greenbaum
was a "tremendously gifted athlete," his son said. As a young man, he excelled in soccer. He enjoyed playing aerial tennis later in life at the Jewish Community Center
of Greater Kansas City. "His fingers were so thick and strong," Bruce said. "He had a vise grip." He possessed an internal strength too. Earlier this year, Joseph lost part of a leg in a diabetes-related amputation. "He never whimpered, he never complained," Bruce said. "He never said `Why me?' or anything like that." Dina Giesler, Bruce's girlfriend, remembers Joseph as a strong, resilient survivor. He was "a very gentle man,"
she said. Survivors include: A son, a daughter, several nieces and nephews. Joseph
made a point of treating everybody fairly. "That made me very proud to have him as my father," Bruce said. The family requests contributions to the Midwest Center for Holocaust Education.