Paul Argiewicz of Paddock Lake, Wisconsin passed away at 88 surrounded by his wife Cheryl and his loved ones on Wednesday, December 11, 2013 at the Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center in North Chicago, Illinois.

Paul was born on August 6, 1927 to Noach Schwarzfuks and Elka Argiewicz in Bielsko, Poland. At 15, he was one of many who were rounded up by German soldiers to work in armament and textile production and on railroad and highway projects, and he would spend the next three years of his young life in seven Nazi concentration camps including Breslau, Sacrau, Bunzlau, Masselwitz, Blechammer, and eventually Buchenwald. He received an Auschwitz number on his arm when Masselwitz administration changed, and Auschwitz tattooers came to camp. His parents, his older sister Fela, his brother-in-law Pinchas and many other family members did not survive the camps. The family's only other survivor was Paul's beloved sister Lucy, with whom he was miraculously reunited after the war. His experience as a child survivor of the Holocaust is recounted in the book "Number 176520 – The Story of Paul Argiewicz, a Teenage Holocaust Survivor" for which he was largely unable to remember details.

In recent years, Paul spent a good deal of his time speaking to students in local schools and he was an honored speaker in libraries, bookstores, congregations, and various other venues. He was proud to be a key speaker in the March of Remembrance in Washington D.C. for several years.

After emigrating to the United States in 1950, Paul Argiewicz volunteered to serve in the U.S. Air Force on April 1, 1952. He served as an electrician at Sampson AFB in Geneva, New York, and was honorably discharged on May 7, 1953 and afterwards Paul worked for many years as a steamfitter in Chicago. A true entrepreneur, Paul successfully started and ran his own heating and cooling business, Argo Heating and Cooling.

On July 29, 1996 Paul, a widow for several years, married Cheryl Erdman, herself a widow. They made a home for themselves in Paddock Lake to be near their children, grandchildren, and great-grandson.

Paul was a member of B'nai Zedek Chabad of Kenosha for many years where he enjoyed fellowshipping with Rabbi Tzali Wilschanski and fellow congregants. Paul committed to living his life for God and humanity and he was a man of deep passion, faith, wisdom, humor, and a consuming love for life. His skills in cooking, finding bargains, fixing things, and knowing just about everything about everything set him apart as a man beloved by all who knew him. Always generous and hospitable, Paul loved to feed people, tell his marvelous stories, and extend help to anyone in need. He was a loyal volunteer in many functions and capacities, particularly in serving his fellow veterans at the Chicago Veterans Administration. He adored his wife and family, referred to his grandchildren as his "diamonds" and to his great grandchildren as his "pearls".

Paul was survived by his wife Cheryl, his sister Lucy (Bob) Matzner of Sheboygan, Wisconsin, his sister-in-law Donna Lilley of Cincinnati, Ohio, his children Tom (Judy) Gray of Sheboygan, Fred Argiewicz of Milwaukee, William (Nathalie) Argiewicz of Menominee, Michigan, Cindy (Steve) Nicoletti of Paddock Lake and Howard (Susan) Weiss of Denver, Colorado, his grandchildren Kyle, Heather (Kyllo), Janess, Cody, Jordan, Noah (Diana), Tamera (Fred), Jaime, Heather (Adam), Christopher (Heather), Zachary, Maxwell, Madeline, Ben and Khava, his great grandchildren Mason, Noah, Mikaila, Ella and Sophia, Cooper, Parker, a niece and two nephews, including Murray Matzner (Lucy's children). He is preceded in death by his beloved parents and sister Fela, his brother-in-law Pinchas, and his son David.

Funeral services for Paul were set for Thursday, December 12, 2013 at 1:00 pm at the Bruch Funeral Home, with interment with Full Military Honors following at B'nai Zedek Cemetery. Visitation was held on Thursday from 12:00 p.m. at the funeral home. Shiva was held at the family home at 6237 236th Avenue in Paddock Lake from 2:00-4:00pm and 6:00-8:00pm Thursday, December 12 through Wednesday, December 18.

Bruch Funeral Home - 3503 Roosevelt Road - Kenosha, Wis. 53142 - 262-652-8298 www.bruchfuneralhome.net

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Paul Argiewicz, Holocaust survivor, dies at 88

(Kenosha News, December 12, 2013 at 6:12 p.m. by Jill Tatge-Rozell)

PADDOCK LAKE — Paul Argiewicz was more than a number, those who remembered him Thursday, said.

The Paddock Lake man who died Wednesday at age 88 was once only identified by the number tattooed on his arm — 176520. He was one of only two of family members to leave a Nazi prison camp alive.

But to those who heard his story over the years, he was an inspiration. He was the face of the Holocaust for school children throughout Kenosha County and beyond. He was a survivor.

"Paul would walk into a room filled with middle-school students and captivate them all with his kindness and charm," Jody Fuller, an eighth-grade teacher at Salem School, said. "Paul told his story with such emotion that he made you feel as if you were there. He was an inspiration to all of the people whose lives he touched."

Argiewicz himself said it is a story that is hard to believe — which is why it needed to be told again and again.

"I still can't believe people could be so inhuman and cruel," Argiewicz told one group of students at Riverview School in Silver Lake. "I still can't believe I made it through."

Argiewicz wasn't much older than the students he would share his stories with when the Germans invaded Poland in 1939. In the late fall of 1944, he was led with about 3,000 other prisoners on a death march that ended at Buchenwald, one of the most notorious Nazi concentration camps.

He shared stories of the horrors experienced in the seven camps he estimates he was in during the war — including acts of cannibalism and starvation. The last two weeks in Buchenwald, he said, no one was fed.

Paul Argiewicz was liberated on April 11, 1945.

Riverview Social Studies teacher Stacy Evans said students and teachers alike were all deeply moved by Argiewicz.

"His first-person stories helped the students to realize that the Holocaust actually happened and was not just an event in a book," Evans said. "They were able to experience it through him and it has had a lasting effect on anyone fortunate enough to have heard him speak."

Fuller said Argiewicz helped the students understand what it felt like to be persecuted, and to see how he didn't let that ruin his life.

"We will never forget his stories and will keep the memory of the Holocaust in our minds so history doesn't repeat itself. It was an honor and privilege to call Paul Argiewicz a friend."

After emigrating to the United States in 1950, Argiewicz served in the U.S. Air Force.

His life is the subject of a book, "Number 176520, the Story of Paul Argiewicz, a Teenage Holocaust Survivor," by Deanne Joseph Ebner.