Jacob Waizman (Jakub Wajcman) was born on April 5, 1920 in Poland. In 1939, he and his parents while residing at Zawiercie were forced into a ghetto after the Nazi invasion. They were later sent to Auschwitz where Jacob's parents perished in the gas chamber. Jacob was sent to various work camps for forced labor and was ultimately located at Buchenwald. He was liberated on April 11, 1945 by the 6th Armored Division of the U.S. Third Army. After his liberation Waizman returned to Poland where he met his wife Paula, who had also been a concentration camp survivor. The couple immigrated to the United States in 1949 and after a brief time in New York City moved to Des Moines in May of 1950. Waizman worked at the Hotel Fort Des Moines and a local restaurant prior to his employment as an assistant engineer with the Des Moines Public Schools. He was a member of the Des Moines Jewish Federation and Beth El Jacob Synagogue, and spoke throughout central Iowa about his Holocaust experiences. In the mid-1980s he was interviewed as part of the Des Moines Holocaust Survivors Project and a copy of his video testimonial is housed with the records of that project in the special collections of the State Historical Society of Iowa, Des Moines.
From the description of Jacob Waizman provisional identification card for civilian internee of Buchenwald, 1945. (State Historical Society of Iowa, Library). WorldCat record id: 713565650
