IN MEMORIAM

Bernard Suskind, 97;

Holocaust Survivor

Leaves Family Here

Holocaust survivor Bernard Suskind, 97, of Atlantic Beach, Long Island, died on Nov. 26, 2018, at Mercy Hospital in Rockville Centre.

Among his survivors he leaves a daughter, Linda Suskind Kosmer, in Fly Creek.

He is predeceased by his wife, Charlotte.

Born in Fuerstenau, Germany, Bernard was arrested on Kristallnacht, Nov. 9-10, 1938, and sent to Buchenwald concentration camp along with his father. They were fortunate to be freed after a month.

Due to the efforts of the Swedish government, he went to Sweden, where he spent a year working before he continued to the U.S. and enlisted in the Army. He then fought as a GI on the German front.

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During the war, when he was back on leave, he met his wife in Brooklyn, where his parents and sister lived. After the war, he started a business, Bellmore Steel, which remains in operation today and is run by his son Glenn.

In recent decades, Bernard went back to Germany many times, as he was befriended by a German history teacher, Berndt Kruse, who invited him to talk to students and residents about his experiences.

He became an honored citizen, or “Ehrenburger,” in his hometown. It inspired him to write his book in German and English, called “We Were Fair Game.”

He also spoke to Cooperstown High School students while his granddaughter, Linda’s daughter Alyssa, was a student there.

Bernard and his wife, Charlotte, enjoyed boating and traveling and spending time with his family. He brought his children and all of his grandchildren to his hometown to meet his friends and see the place he lived so that they would understand more fully the importance of his personal history and the history of the Jews in Germany.

In addition to his daughter, Linda, and her husband, John Kosmer, he is survived by son Glenn, of Lido Beach; six grandchildren, Alyssa, Stephanie, Jaqueline, Katherine, Brian and Stephen, and three great-grandchildren, Charlotte, Luke and Ben.