Corporal Louis LeBeau, aka Robert Clary has passed away at 96.

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Corporal Louis LeBeau, aka Robert Clary has passed away at 96. (citizenfreepress.com)

Early life and Holocaust survival

Born in 1926 in Paris, France, Clary was the youngest of 14 children, 10 of whom would die in the Holocaust.[1] At the age of twelve, he began a career singing professionally on a French radio station and also studied art in Paris.[2] In 1942, because he was Jewish, he was deported to the Nazi concentration camp at Ottmuth, in Upper Silesia (now Otmęt, Poland). He was tattooed with the identification “A5714” on his left forearm. He was later sent to Buchenwald concentration camp.

At Buchenwald, Clary sang to an audience of SS soldiers every other Sunday, accompanied by an accordionist. He said, “Singing, entertaining, and being in kind of good health at my age, that’s why I survived. I was very immature and young and not really fully realizing what situation I was involved with … I don’t know if I would have survived if I really knew that.”[3]

Writing about his experience, Clary said,

We were not even human beings. When we got to Buchenwald, the SS shoved us into a shower room to spend the night. I had heard the rumours about the dummy shower heads that were gas jets. I thought, ‘This is it.’ But no, it was just a place to sleep. The first eight days there, the Germans kept us without a crumb to eat. We were hanging on to life by pure guts, sleeping on top of each other, every morning waking up to find a new corpse next to you. … The whole experience was a complete nightmare — the way they treated us, what we had to do to survive. We were less than animals. Sometimes I dream about those days. I wake up in a sweat terrified for fear I’m about to be sent away to a concentration camp, but I don’t hold a grudge because that’s a great waste of time. Yes, there’s something dark in the human soul. For the most part, human beings are not very nice. That’s why when you find those who are, you cherish them.[4]

Clary was liberated from Buchenwald on April 11, 1945. Twelve other members of his immediate family were sent to Auschwitz concentration camp; Clary was the only survivor.[5] When he returned to Paris after World War II, he learned that three of his 13 siblings had not been taken away and had survived the Nazi occupation of France.[3]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Clary

Robert Clary (born Robert Max Widerman; March 1, 1926 – November 16, 2022) was a French-born American actor. He is best known for his role in the television sitcom Hogan’s Heroes as Corporal Louis LeBeau (1965 to 1971). He also had recurring roles in the soap operas Days of Our Lives (1972 to 1987), and The Bold and the Beautiful (1990 to 1992). Early life and Holocaust survival Born in 1926 in Paris, France, Clary was the youngest of 14 children, 10 of whom would die in the Holocaust.[1] At the age of twelve, he began a career singing professionally on a French radio station and also studied art in Paris.[2] In 1942, because he was Jewish, he was deported to the Nazi concentration camp at Ottmuth, in Upper Silesia (now Otmęt, Poland). He was tattooed with the identification “A5714” on his left forearm. He was later sent to Buchenwald concentration camp. At Buchenwald, Clary sang to an audience of SS soldiers every other Sunday, accompanied by an accordionist. He said, “Singing, entertaining, and being in kind of good health at my age, that’s why I survived. I was very immature and young and not really fully realizing what situation I was involved with … I don’t know if I would have survived if I really knew that.”[3] Writing about his experience, Clary said, We were not even human beings. When we got to Buchenwald, the SS shoved us into a shower room to spend the night. I had heard the rumours about the dummy shower heads that were gas jets. I thought, ‘This is it.’ But no, it was just a place to sleep. The first eight days there, the Germans kept us without a crumb to eat. We were hanging on to life by pure guts, sleeping on top of each other, every morning waking up to find a new corpse next to you. … The whole experience was a complete nightmare — the way they treated us, what we had to do to survive. We were less than animals. Sometimes I dream about those days. I wake up in a sweat terrified for fear I’m about to be sent away to a concentration camp, but I don’t hold a grudge because that’s a great waste of time. Yes, there’s something dark in the human soul. For the most part, human beings are not very nice. That’s why when you find those who are, you cherish them.[4] Clary was liberated from Buchenwald on April 11, 1945. Twelve other members of his immediate family were sent to Auschwitz concentration camp; Clary was the only survivor.[5] When he returned to Paris after World War II, he learned that three of his 13 siblings had not been taken away and had survived the Nazi occupation of France.[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Clary

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