Columbus, OH – A Holocaust survivor who became a sculptor and has his work on display at Ohio’s governor’s mansion has died.
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A Columbus funeral home says services will be Monday for Alfred Tibor who died Saturday. He was 97.
The Columbus Dispatch (http://bit.ly/2nASy2t ) reports Tibor was a gymnast in Hungary but was prevented from competing in the 1936 Olympics because of anti-Semitism.
He then spent several years working forced labor on the Eastern Front before being captured by Russian troops and sent to a prisoner-of-war camp.
Tibor came to the United States in 1957 and lived in central Ohio for 45 years while creating sculptures that stand in many public spaces around Columbus.
Many of his sculptures commemorate the Holocaust and are in over 500 public and private collections.
I knew Alfred Tibor; about thirteen years ago, a large deer broke through a sliding glass door, in the suburban condo, where Mr. and Mrs. Tibor were living. Mrs. Tibor got out of their apartment very quickly. However, Mr. Tibor decided to make a stand, and confronted the deer, and attempted to grab the deer by its antlers, in an attempt to get the animal out of their apartment. The deer had other ideas, and in the struggle, Mr. Tibor was injured by the animal, which eventually ran out of the condo. Alfred was taken to the hospital, where he recovered from his injuries. He stated that he didn’t want that deer destroying his apartment. In any event, when he returned to Shul, he received a standing ovation from everyone. He will certainly be missed, as his many sculptures, depicting the Holocaust are found in front of various institutions all over Columbus, Ohio. May his memory be for a blessing!
orying