Biography
Will Grossman is the son of Julius Grossman (b. 1/31/11) and Anna (nee Segal, b. 1/28/15). Both lived in Cernauti (Czernowitz). Julius and Anna married on December 25, 1938. Julius was the son of Wilhelm (Mendel Wolf) and Toni (nee Ziegler) Grossman. Julius's father made custom leather goods, as did Julius. Julius had five siblings: Paul and Geza (both of whom immigrated to the United States in the 1930s), and three sisters Ella, Frieda and Tina. Anna was the youngest child of Abraham Segal and Shaindel Weisbaum. She had two older siblings: a brother Siegmund and a sister Miriam (later Fortes). Siegmund was an award winning amateur photographer who took extensive photographs of the two families during the 1930s.
Julius and Anna were deported to Transnistria along with much of their families. After they were liberated, Julius and Anna returned to Czernowitz, where Julius was conscripted into the Soviet army. Anna stayed behind and worked in a Soviet factory as a bookkeeper. Julius fought until becoming injured in Danzig where he lost a leg. Anna was pregnant with Will and delivered on January 13, 1945 while Julius was still away. Julius returned to Czernowitz after a lengthy stay in hospital. They were targeted as Bourgeois by local communists and fled to Ploesti (outside of Bucharest) where they met up with Anna's sister Miriam. Anna and Miriam's parents also survived. Siegmund and his wife were deported from Budapest to Auschwitz. Siegmund perished on a forced march either to or from Auschwitz. Tina (nee Grossman), her husband Sala Schneider and their son were sent from Prague to Terezin, where they perished. Mendel Wolf, the father of Julius, also perished during the war. His wife Toni survived and immigrated to the United States after liberation.
Still in Romania, Anna gave birth to a second son, David, on May 12, 1950. After the birth of their second son, they were allowed to leave Romania for Israel along with Anna's parents. Miriam's husband, Adolf Fortes, was a ceramic engineer. Since his job was vital to the Romanian economy, they remained in Romania after the war with their daughter Karla. Julius, Anna and their boys later immigrated to the United States, but unfortunately arrived after Toni had already passed away of natural causes.
