ALBANY– Survivor Tibor Spitz will discuss his journey as an artist and his life’s story on Tuesday, March 25, at 6 p.m. at the William K Sanford Town Library, 629 Albany Shaker Rd., Loudonville. The free program, hosted by the Colonie Chabad Chai, is open to the community.

Spitz, now 96, was born in Dolny Kubin in the high mountains of northern Slovakia, at that time part of  Czechoslovakia. His father was a cantor for their Jewish community and mother was a teacher. He survived the Holocaust and at 15, studied chemistry in Prague. In 1968 he, and his wife, escaped to the West to live in Canada and later in the U.S.A. After retirement from his career as a scientist he became a professional artist and lecturer on Holocaust.

He was 10 years old when the Slovak separatists joined Nazi Germany and embraced its anti-Jewish laws.

When his family was about to be deported, the family fled to the mountains, dug out an underground shelter and expected to be liberated by the advancing Red Army. However, the war continued for another seven months and his family remained in hiding, desperately trying to survive, according to Spitz. Many relatives and friends died in the Shoah

After the WW2 Czechoslovakia became a Communist country. According to Spitz, the country was far from friendly to Jews. Spitz became an engineer, chemist and a glassmaker.

Rabbi Mordechai Rubin, codirector of Colonie Chabad, requests that those interested in attending make reservations at