David Schaecter
David Schaecter Presented by The Foundation of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation
I was born in Czechoslovakia in a very small “hamlet,” not even the size of a town, in the Tokai Mountains area close to the Czech/Hungarian border. In April 1940, my father was taken away from our family and one year later, they came for the rest of us. I was eleven years old at the time.
My mother, two younger sisters, my older brother and I were taken by cattle car to Auschwitz. After we arrived, my mother and sisters were pushed away and I never saw them again. My brother, who was 4 years my senior, told me to stand on his feet so I looked older. Miraculously we were taken together and stayed together for 1 ½ years before we were again taken together, this time to Buchenwald. We were in Buchenwald for close to two years when my brother gave up and was shot to death. I remained in Buchenwald for several more months until I was again put on a train as the Germans were clearing out the camps with allied troops approaching. This time the train was not a cattle car but some type of supply train. I escaped into the woods during the confusion of the moment when the train was bombed by the allied troops. After hiding by day, and traveling
by night towards the Czech border, I was fortunate to be found by the Czech partisans. They took me in and nursed me to health for the next 3 months until the war was over. I was a boy of 14 ½ years. In 1945, I was taken to Prague where I was cared for by the JDC (Joint Distribution Committee) for the next four years. I lived in a youth hostel and studied until 1949 when I was able to travel as an exchange student to USA. I am the only survivor of a close and large family of 105 people. I arrived in the United States in January, 1950 at the age of 20, and registered in the University of Colorado at Boulder. After two years I transferred to UCLA where I graduated with a degree
in industrial engineering. I was hired by a British American family to develop and grow two different branches of their business. They transferred me to San Francisco, then Seattle, and eventually Miami in 1956. After two years in Miami, I started my own company and found great success. I have called Miami home for 66 years. I was married to my first wife, Marvis, of blessed memory who passed away in 2005 after 53 years of marriage. I am re-married to a wonderful woman, Sydney, who serves the Jewish community. I am blessed with two adult children, five adult grandchildren and two great grandchildren.
I have been actively involved in the local and national Jewish community for more than sixty years. I take pride as a founder of the Holocaust Memorial Miami Beach and have devoted numerous hours with grade
school, high school and also university students. I have accompanied more than 8500 high school students on the many March of the Living trips to Poland and Israel sharing my story with local Jewish teens. Since the completion of the “Memorial” thirty-five years ago, we have recorded more than 3 million visitors. The Memorial is the place where I educate and contemplate. It is the only burial site for my murdered family and that of many others. It is the place of solace to the elderly survivors who call south Florida home. In 2018, my story was captured on film by producer and world-renowned Holocaust scholar Michael Berenbaum in the documentary entitled “A Call to Remember: The David Schaecter Story.”
I was humbled that Sydney and I were selected as Temple Judea’s 2019 Pillars of Judah Honorees. The Pillars of Judah Award honors individuals who are extraordinary volunteers with the ability to engage the hearts and minds of
others. Pillars galvanize and educate the community and are dedicated to making Temple Judea – and the world – a better place. These unique individuals continually inspire, lead by example and take personal responsibility for ensuring the well-being of others. It is important to me that our Miami Jewish community and the Holocaust Memorial
Miami Beach continue to thrive and serve future generations. That is why I became a Forever Pacesetter and established Lion of Judah Endowment Funds in memory of Marvis and in honor of Sydney for their dedication to the Jewish people as proud Lions of Judah. I have made a significant financial commitment for the future education center that will be built at the Holocaust Memorial Miami Beach. My hope and prayer is to attend the ground breaking in a few months and to enter the completed building at the end of 2023 or early in 2024. Most importantly, my legacy and my story will continue through the countless number of students who I have met through the Holocaust Memorial and the March of the Living. In my conversations with them, I have told them to not only hear, understand and remember my story, but also be my mouthpiece when I’m no longer here. I don’t know a better purpose than that.
Temple Beth Am AND Rambam Day School
Presented by The Foundation of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation
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