Skip to main content

Louis "Rudi" Leviticus

In October 1942, Louis Leviticus, aged 11, escaped a police raid in Amersfoort, Netherlands, where his family was hiding from the Nazi onslaught by jumping off a 3rd floor veranda from their apartment. An awning broke his fall allowing him to escape. He never saw his parents again. Finding his way to the Dutch underground, Lou survived the war under false identity. He was known by his undercover name, “Rudi,” to his friends and family throughout his life. Later, he was sent to Israel from a Polish orphanage. Lou served in the Israeli army and studied engineering at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. After earning his Ph.D. at Purdue University, Lou served as director of the University of Nebraska's Tractor Test Lab from the late 1970s through his retirement in 1998. He continued working as volunteer curator at the Larsen Tractor Museum on East Campus. Lou wrote his memoir under the pseudonym "Ben Wajikra" taken from Hebrew words meaning "Son of Leviticus" in memory of Max and Sera Leviticus, his parents. Hear Lou's testimony in his own words.


58 items

Sara ten Bosch's school photograph

  • Format: photograph

Louis Leviticus's mother

  • Format: photograph

Max Leviticus Portrait

  • Format: photograph

Louis Leviticus and his mother

  • Format: photograph

Louis Leviticus in Amersfoort, 1933

  • Format: photograph

Louis Leviticus, 1935

  • Format: photograph

Young Louis Leviticus

  • Format: photograph

Sara Lena Leviticus Passport Photo

  • Format: photograph

Louis Leviticus' school photograph

  • Format: photograph

Louis Leviticus and mother, 1940

  • Format: photograph

Dalfsen, Mel 1942

  • Format: photograph

Louis Leviticus portrait

  • Format: photograph

Groep Kaneel 1948, Orphanage

  • Format: photograph

Louis Leviticus at Purdue University, 1966

  • Format: photograph

Louis Leviticus's Israeli police identity card

Lou Leviticus Shoah Foundation Testimony

  • Date: November 19, 1995
  • Format: testimony

Tales from the Milestone

  • Date: 2003
  • Creator(s): Wajikra, Ben
  • Format: book

Louis Leviticus at Wayne State College

  • Format: photograph

Louis Leviticus at Wayne State College

  • Format: photograph

Louis Leviticus at Wayne State College

  • Format: photograph

Louis Leviticus at Wayne State College

  • Format: photograph

Louis Leviticus at Wayne State College

  • Format: photograph

Louis Leviticus at Wayne State College

  • Format: photograph

Louis Leviticus Speaks to Norfolk Catholic School Students

  • Format: photograph

Louis Leviticus Speaks to Norfolk Catholic School Students

  • Format: photograph

Louis Leviticus Speaks to Norfolk Catholic School Students

  • Format: photograph

Louis Leviticus Speaks to Norfolk Catholic School Students

  • Format: photograph

Louis Leviticus Speaks to Norfolk Catholic School Students

  • Format: photograph

Louis Leviticus Speaks to Norfolk Catholic School Students

  • Format: photograph

Louis Leviticus Speaks to Norfolk Catholic School Students

  • Format: photograph

Louis Leviticus Speaks to Norfolk Catholic School Students

  • Format: photograph

Louis Leviticus Speaks to Norfolk Catholic School Students

  • Format: photograph

Louis Leviticus Speaks to Norfolk Catholic School Students

  • Format: photograph

Louis Leviticus Speaks to Norfolk Catholic School Students

  • Format: photograph

Louis Leviticus Speaks to Norfolk Catholic School Students

  • Format: photograph

Louis Leviticus Portrait

  • Format: photograph
  • Source: David Radler Photography

Louis and Rose Leviticus

  • Format: photograph

Leviticus Family Interview

  • Date: 2023
  • Format: testimony

Max and Sara Lena Leviticus's Wedding, late 1920s

  • Format: photograph

Louis Leviticus and Gerald Ford

  • Format: photograph

Levitcus Family Home

  • Format: photograph

Synagogue

  • Format: photograph

Louis Leviticus's grandparents

  • Format: photograph

Dutch Drawings

  • Format: cartoon

Dutch Drawings

  • Format: cartoon

Dutch Drawings

  • Format: cartoon

Dutch Drawings

  • Format: cartoon

Dutch Drawings

  • Format: cartoon

Louis Leviticus at Holocaust Commemeration

  • Format: photograph

Heartland Honor Flights

  • Format: photograph
⟰