Born in Antwerp, Belgium, in 1937 to Meyer and Ezster Saks, Michael “Mike” Saks was the youngest of six children in a devout Orthodox Jewish family. Originally from Prague, the family fled Czechoslovakia as the Nazis rose to power, seeking safety in Belgium—only to be forced to flee again when war engulfed Europe.

As a small child, Mike was shielded from much of the terror of the Holocaust, but survival required extraordinary measures. The family escaped to southern France with false Catholic papers, and Mike and his siblings were hidden in a monastery orphanage, where they learned Catholic prayers to avoid detection. Food was scarce, malnutrition was constant, and nothing was ever wasted—lessons that shaped Mike for life.

After liberation, the entire Saks family miraculously survived. In 1948, they emigrated to the newly established State of Israel, where Mike apprenticed as a tool and die maker and later served in the Israeli Defense Forces. He married Mira in 1961, and in 1962 they moved to Cleveland, Ohio, where Mike built a career as a machinist and raised two daughters grounded in faith and family.

Though he rarely speaks about the Holocaust, Mike’s life reflects perseverance, devotion, and deep Jewish pride. A husband, father, grandfather, and man of unwavering faith, his guiding words endure: be honest, be proud of who you are, and always think of the future.