Skip to main content

Irving Shapiro

Irving Shapiro was born Israel Szapiro on April 15, 1923, in Międzyrzec, Poland. From 1942-1945, he was imprisoned and assigned to forced labor at Majdanek concentration camp, Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp, Buna-Monowitz (or Auschwitz III) concentration camp, and at the end of the war at Dora-Mittlebau concentration camp. Irving was sent to Majdanek with his brother, Abraham, who disappeared sometime during 1942. Sadly, the boys were never reunited. Irving searched for Abraham throughout his lifetime. Their father, Hershel, and mother, Mala, were murdered in the Treblinka death camp in 1942. Irving married Clara Zaltzman in September 1945 in Neustadt, Germany. They later immigrated to Canada with their first daughter, Tatiana. Seven years later, in 1955, relatives provided sponsorship for them to move to the US in Gering, Nebraska, where they settled and built successful businesses. Irving and Clara had two additional children, Hershel and Marlene. Hear Irving's testimony in his own words.


45 items

Letter from Irving Shapiro to Howard Shaff, August 14, 1984

  • Date: August 14, 1984
  • Creator(s): Shapiro, Irving
  • Format: letter

Irving Shapiro Notes (From Shapiro)

  • Date: September 17, 1984
  • Format: document

Sophie Bleiwiss Remembrance of Irving Shapiro

  • Date: 1985 ca.
  • Format: letter

A Letter to Levi

  • Date: June 2, 1985
  • Format: book

Jewish Group Responds With Facts to Hate Talk

  • Date: December 10, 1985
  • Format: newspaper

Gering Man Believes Parents Killed by "Ivan the Terrible"

  • Date: April 30, 1988
  • Format: newspaper

Sermons in stone speak from Treblinka

  • Date: September 10, 1989
  • Creator(s): Will, George
  • Format: newspaper

Irving Shapiro Interview (Part I)

  • Date: 1990
  • Format: testimony

Irving Shapiro Interview (Part II)

  • Date: 1990
  • Format: testimony

Irving Shapiro

  • Date: 1990
  • Creator(s): Pregowski, Konrad | Pregowski, Robert
  • Format: photograph
  • Source: Film, "A Time in the Life of ISRAEL SZAPIRO No. 129564"

Letter from Milton Marcus to Irving Shapiro, December 10, 1990

  • Date: December 10, 1990
  • Creator(s): Marcus, Milton
  • Format: letter

Closed Eyes

  • Date: May 2, 1991
  • Creator(s): Preiss, Rebecca Lynn
  • Format: poem

Letter from Radu Ioanid to Irving Shapiro, July 25, 1994

  • Date: July 25, 1994
  • Creator(s): Ioanid, Radu
  • Format: letter

Irving Shapiro's 50th Anniversary Speech Draft

  • Date: 1995
  • Creator(s): Shapiro, Irving
  • Format: document

Letter from Ari Zev to Irving Shapiro, March 24, 1995

  • Date: March 24, 1995
  • Format: letter

Letter from Governor Ben Nelson to Audra Weitzel, May 24, 1996

  • Date: May 24, 1996
  • Creator(s): Nelson, E. Benjamin (Earl Benjamin), 1941-
  • Format: letter

Resolution Honoring Irving Shapiro

  • Date: June 21, 1996
  • Format: document

Nebraska's Panhandle Families: Faith in a Faraway Place

  • Date: Summer 2008
  • Creator(s): Shelley, Rita
  • Format: email

Tatiana Shapiro's Story

  • Date: January 5, 2010
  • Creator(s): Shapiro, Tatiana
  • Format: email

Hershel Joshua Shapiro Obituary

  • Date: March 7, 2014
  • Format: newspaper

Tania Shapiro Moore Obituary

  • Date: September 5, 2017
  • Format: newspaper

Irving Shapiro Notes (Nobody is entitled to forget about Aushwitz)

  • Creator(s): Shapiro, Irving
  • Format: document

Irving Shapiro Notes (The 2 tragic dates)

  • Creator(s): Shapiro, Irving
  • Format: document

In Modern Times

  • Format: book

Vandalism on Irving Shapiro's Lawn (Image 1)

  • Creator(s): Shapiro, Irving
  • Format: photograph

Irving Shapiro Notes (End of War)

  • Creator(s): Shapiro, Irving
  • Format: document

Irving Shapiro Notes (Jews of Mezr.)

  • Creator(s): Shapiro, Irving
  • Format: document

Irving Shapiro Writings (Numbered, black pen)

  • Creator(s): Shapiro, Irving
  • Format: document

Vandalism on Irving Shapiro's Lawn (Image 2)

  • Creator(s): Shapiro, Irving
  • Format: photograph

Irving Shapiro's Writings (Mezrich)

  • Creator(s): Shapiro, Irving
  • Format: document

Irving Shapiro's Notes (Return to Miedzyrzec)

  • Creator(s): Shapiro, Irving
  • Format: document