Florsheim, Henry

Attended the Israelite School for the Deaf and Dumb in Berlin prior to its 1940 destruction by the Nazis. Emigrated to the U.S. in 1937, at age 14, alone, on a temporary visa, leaving his family and friends in Germany. His parents joined him later. Attended the New York School for the Deaf, where he learned English and ASL. After initially working as a laborer in wartime supply factories, he became a U.S. citizen and a printer. Met and married a deaf woman who had also attended the Israelite School; his son became the first deaf principal at New York City's Public School 47, and his daughter became a nurse at the Lexington School for the Deaf.