Jack Feldman passed away peacefully in his home on December 20, 2021, after his last meal of fish. He was 95.
Jack was born in Skarzysko, Poland on New Year’s Day 1926. At the age of 14, Jack’s happy childhood came to an end as he was snatched off the street by the Nazis and sent to a series of labor and death camps, ultimately, Auschwitz. He was never liberated from Auschwitz but sent on a death march from January 1 to May 5, 1945. He was the sole member of his family to survive. His story is the subject of the HBO documentary, “The Number on Great Grandpa’s Arm” (https://www.hbo.com/documentaries/the-number-on-great-grandpas-arm).
Jack met his wife Sally – beautiful, inside and out— shortly after being liberated. They married in the Feldafing displaced persons camp. In 1949, they moved to the United States and raised a family in Rochester, New York. Jack was famous for his fish market on Joseph Avenue in Northeast Rochester. He never forgot his time in Auschwitz or what hunger was, and he was known to feed everyone, whether they could afford to pay or not. During the 1964 Rochester riots, his store was spared from looting by grateful community members. When other stores left the neighborhood, Jack stayed, keeping his fish market open for fifty years.
Jack was preceded in death by Sally. Jack’s legacy now lives on through his three children, Sammy Feldman (Jeanne) Rochelle Doblin (Jeff), and Irving Feldman, his seven grandchildren, Stacey Saiontz (Marc), Brian Feldman (Marissa), Brad Feldman (Jasmeet), Amanda Shapiro (Daniel), Zach Feldman (Jessica), Max Doblin, and Syndey Doblin, and, so far, his eight great grandchildren, Elliott Saiontz, Jared Saiontz, Asa Feldman, Jonah Feldman, Baani Feldman, Gobind Feldman, Arzoe Feldman and Aiden Shapiro.
At the request of the family due to COVID precautions, there will be a private service.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Jack Feldman’s memory to the following:
