Roman Lesniak

Prepared by the Witnesses of War team

Roman Lesniak, born Roman Goldberger on 10 August 1922 in Kraków, Poland, is one of the last living survivors saved by Oskar Schindler. He was seventeen when Nazi Germany invaded Poland in September 1939. In 1941, his family was forced into the Kraków ghetto, where Roman, his father and his brother Steven worked as skilled metalworkers.

From October 1942 to September 1943, Roman performed forced labour at an aircraft factory in Rakowice. He and Steven were subsequently imprisoned in Płaszów, working in the camp’s metal workshop. Their parents and sister were murdered during the Holocaust.

In October 1944, both brothers were included on Schindler’s list. After imprisonment in Gross-Rosen concentration camp, they were transferred to Schindler’s ammunition factory in Brünnlitz, now Brněnec in the Czech Republic. Their inclusion among the workers requested for his factory proved decisive for their survival. Roman recalled that Schindler welcomed them on arrival and ensured they received hot food and protection from abuse. Under his protection, the brothers survived until the end of the war in May 1945.

After liberation, Roman returned to Kraków and adopted his mother’s maiden name, Lesniak. He later lived in Israel before immigrating to Montreal in 1952, where he and Steven established a successful construction business. Roman was among the survivors who supported Schindler financially after the war.