# Fame.am profile — machine-readable export
# Canonical URL: https://fame.am/person/joseph-schleifstein
# Generated: 2026-08-14T07:24:51.381Z

schema: https://schema.org/Person
url: "https://fame.am/person/joseph-schleifstein"
name: "Joseph Schleifstein"
slug: "joseph-schleifstein"
description: "Joseph Schleifstein was a Polish-born American who survived the Buchenwald concentration camp during the Holocaust at the age of four. He was hidden by his father in a large sack, enabling him to avoid detection by SS guards when arriving at the camp. Other prisoners helped his father keep him hidden, and Schleifstein survived until the Americans liberated the camp. After World War II, Schleifstein and his parents emigrated to the United States. He did not discuss his wartime experiences for decades, even with his children. His case gained publicity in 1999 with the anniversary of the 1997 movie Life is Beautiful; it was discovered Schleifstein's story was an inspiration for the script. This led to a search for him and an eventual newspaper interview."
tagline: "Polish-born American, Buchenwald survivor at age 4"
image: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Buchenwald_Children_90250.jpg?width=1200"
gender: "male"
birthDate: "1941-03-07"
livingStatus: "LIVING"
scores:
  popularity:           48.7
  momentum:             5.743865030674847
  historical:           5.940574666666667
  currentAttention:     0
  sourceConfidence:     35
  profileCompleteness:  40
  trendDirection:       "FALLING"
ranks:
  global:   null
  country:  null
  category: null
sources:
  - url: "https://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%92'%D7%95%D7%96%D7%A3_%D7%A9%D7%9C%D7%99%D7%99%D7%A4%D7%A9%D7%98%D7%99%D7%99%D7%9F"
    title: "ג'וזף שלייפשטיין"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%C3%B3zef_Janek_Szlajfsztajn"
    title: "Józef Janek Szlajfsztajn"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Schleifstein"
    title: "Joseph Schleifstein"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A8%D0%BB%D0%B0%D0%B9%D1%84%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B0%D0%B9%D0%BD%2C_%D0%94%D0%B6%D0%BE%D0%B7%D0%B5%D1%84"
    title: "Шлайфстайн, Джозеф"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Schleifstein"
    title: "Joseph Schleifstein"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%C3%B3zef_Janek_Szlajfsztajn"
    title: "Józef Janek Szlajfsztajn"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6286880"
    title: "Wikidata"
    type:  "WIKIDATA"

# bio (long form, separated for readability)
bio: |
  Imported from discovery source: wikidata-dump