How it all began: Dr. Benjamin M. Nachman, a retired Omaha dentist and long-time Holocaust researcher, ‘discovered’ David Kaufmann while interviewing a survivor for the Steven Spielberg Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation. In 1969, Rabbi Myer S. Kripke, who officiated at the funeral of Mr. David Kaufmann, learned that Mr. Kaufmann was “Mr. Grand Island” and that he had been, throughout his life, a role model for cherished Jewish values and had demonstrated that wealth is truly held only in stewardship. It is deeds, generosity and courage that counts!

At last, we now have the story of this exceptional man. David Kaufmann was born in Germany in 1875. He was educated and then began his professional life in merchandising and retail in Berlin, and other cities near Bonn and Cologne. At the age of 28, in 1903, he left Germany for America. He started working at A & S Department Store in Brooklyn, NY, but Mr. S.N.Wolbach, a Grand Island, Nebraska merchant was so impressed by him that he encouraged him to come to Nebraska. And that was the beginning.

This story traces the life and works of David Kaufmann, his successes in business in Nebraska, his deep involvement in various communities and voluntary associations. Also, it details and documents his personal efforts, involving serious risks to his reputation and fortune, to save more than 80 families from the Holocaust – a record unmatched by any other individual in the United States. The book is based on meticulous research by the authors and many interviews with the survivors of the families who “Uncle David” saved from the Holocaust.

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