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Published 14:46 IST, May 5th 2020

Holocaust survivor celebrates his 102th birthday amid Coronavirus; sings to his family

North York Holocaust survivor Abram Sloma celebrated his 102th birthday amid the Coronavirus situation in Toronto. The Birthday boy ended up singing for his kin

Reported by: Brigitte Fernandes
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A North York Holocaust survivor Abram Sloma celebrated his 102th birthday amid the Coronavirus situation in Toronto. His family couldn't visit, hence they gathered on his lawn to wish Sloma on his Birthday. Surprisingly, the birthday boy ended up singing to his well-wishers. Sloma celebrated his special day on April 21, with the video now appearing.

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Watch the video here:

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Sloma was born in Lublin, Poland. He's not so rich parents tried their best to give him and his siblings Jewish education. At the age of 13, he began to work as a tailor. During the Second World War that broke out on September 1 in the year 1939, Jewish men were arrested by the Germans and Sloma was sent to a labour camp in Novosibirsk, Siberia. 

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Unknowingly his future wife was also placed in the same labour camp, but they wouldn’t meet until after the war ended in 1945.  One fine day a man came looking for tailors and Sloma left the labour camp for work in the city, where he remained until they released him.

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Postwar, Sloma went home to look for his parents and six siblings however found the home empty and later discovered that his family was taken to Majdanek, a concentration camp built on the outskirts on Lublin, where they likely perished. His one sister survived during this.

Sloma and Chava met through Jewish social gatherings, marrying several months later. The couple left Poland in 1949, arriving at Pier 21 in Halifax, N.S. They moved to Montreal in 1951 and settled in Toronto in 1985.

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14:46 IST, May 5th 2020