Samuel Shear (z”l)
1925 – December 16, 2024
Sam Shear (z”l) was born in 1925 in Bedzin, Poland to Hersh Leib and Blima Szejer.
It was 1939 and Sam was 12-years-old when he was taken by the Nazis while waiting in line to get bread for his family. He’d never see younger sister, Henna, or his parents again, later learning that they were murdered in the gas chambers at Auschwitz.
Sam survived five years in five concentration camps, including Gross-Rosen, Flosenberg, and Buchenwald. HE was forced on a death march that lasted four months before he was liberated by U.S. soldiers in May of 1945. He weighed only 75 pounds.
After liberation, Sam went on to play professional soccer in Europe. He was reunited with his younger brother, Leon, who also survived the Holocaust. Sam eventually immigrated to the United States and settled in Pittsburgh, where he met his wife of 70 years, Belle.
Sam passed away on December 15, 2024, just before his 99th birthday.
More about Sam
Living History | @Pitt