UNK COMMUNICATIONS

Holocaust survivor Milton M. Kleinberg will share his remarkable story Thursday at 7 p.m.

The author of “Bread or Death: Memories of My Childhood During and After the Holocaust” will speak in the Ponderosa Room inside the Nebraskan Student Union. The event, which is free and open to the public, will also be livestreamed at unk.edu/socialdashboard.

Kleinberg faced horrific circumstances as a Jewish child in Poland. Through great sacrifices by his mother, he managed to survive the worst atrocities in human history following the Nazi invasion of Poland in 1939. He faced uncertain days in a Russian slave-labor camp and lived in a displaced persons camp before immigrating to the United States after World War II.

Despite the conditions, Kleinberg endured. He has prospered since surviving the Holocaust. 

Kleinberg started his insurance career in the 1960s as a field agent in Milwaukee and went on to serve as chairman and CEO of Senior Market Sales, an Omaha-based insurance marketing organization with more than 320 employees and 70,000 independent agents under contract.

As the executive vice president and chairman emeritus at Senior Market Sales, Kleinberg speaks about his Holocaust experience at schools, synagogues and libraries and for the Institute for Holocaust Education. He is dedicated to carrying on the memory of the Holocaust so future generations can better understand what happened and ensure it never happens again.

Kleinberg and his wife Marsha are generous philanthropists who support several nonprofit organizations and charitable causes, including the Jewish Federation of Omaha, Chabad of Nebraska, Salvation Army, Beth Israel Synagogue, Friedel Jewish Academy, Bellevue University, American Israel Public Affairs Committee, United Way, Omaha Public Library and Omaha Food Bank.

The event is sponsored by UNK, Kearney Dawn Rotary and Kearney Area Rotaract.