On Thursday, March 4, 2021, Max Steinmetz, 96 years young, and devoted husband, father of three, and grandfather of six, passed away peacefully, after a brief illness, surrounded by his loving family.
Max Steinmetz was born in Romania on January 20, 1925. At the age of 17, Max and his family were taken into captivity by the Nazis and taken to the Nazi Concentration Camp Auschwitz, where his parents, Ilona and Louis Markowitz, and his sister, Esther, were immediately put to death in a gas chamber. His brother, Henry, died while imprisoned with Max at the Nazi Concentration Camp Dachau. Max survived the Holocaust by escaping during a Death March out of Dachau and obtained a Visa to move to the U.S. in 1948.
Upon arriving in New York in late 1948, Max began a business career which brought him to Birmingham, AL to work for Dan Cohen Shoe Company. After Dan Cohen, Max worked for Bargain Town, USA, eventually serving as its Vice President, where he oversaw the shoe department for the chain of stores for approximately thirty years.
Max married Bettyrene (Betty) Friedman a few years after moving to Birmingham, and the couple had three children. Max spent the last thirty years of his life committed to Holocaust Education. He spoke to thousands of people throughout Alabama and other states about the facts that led to the Holocaust and its impact on his life. The family has established a fund in Max’s honor at the Birmingham Holocaust Education Center to support Max’s commitment to Holocaust Education so that such an atrocity never happens to any group of people ever again.
Max is survived by his loving wife, Betty; his children, Stephen (Stephanie) Steinmetz, Lisa (Scott) Morchower, and Caren (Donnie) Fox; six grandchildren, Charlie and Jack Steinmetz, Erica and Elana Morchower, and Hannah and Rachel Fox, several nieces, grand-nieces, a grand-nephew, and many friends.
Funeral services for Max will be held on Sunday, March 7, 2021, at 11:00 am, Graveside at Elmwood Cemetery. Zoom Access to the services is available through registration on the Temple Emanu-El Website.
The family asks that any donations be made in Max’s Honor to either the Birmingham Holocaust Education Center or to Temple Emanu-El in Birmingham, AL.
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