Norbert Lachman was born on Feb. 2, 1922 to Karl and Johanna Lachman and raised in the then free city of Danzig (Gdansk). At age 16, in early spring, 1938, he was accepted to learn a trade in the ORT school in Berlin. Norbert is a Holocaust survivor, but truly, one can refer to him as a veteran, nevertheless, of Kristallnacht.
Norbert immigrated to the United States in 1940, and on February 7, 1943 he went on active duty in the U.S. Army. His unit was brought to England on the luxury liner Queen Elizabeth, which had been converted to a wartime troopship. Upon arrival, he was transferred to the Army Air Corps serving on C-27 transport planes and, on June 6, 1944, D-Day, his transport carried paratroopers and a glider on the tail end. Later, he was transferred to the 1st Infantry Division because of his fluency in German. On Dec. 22, 1945, he received his first Honorable Discharge from the U.S. Army. He was called back into the Army during the Korean War, serving from 1950 to 1953, where he received his second Honorable Discharge from the U.S. Army.
He married the love of his life, Gloria, on June 1, 1947 and they were happily married for 68 years until her passing. He was also preceded in death by his parents and his sister, Helga Lachman. He is survived by his children Jeffrey Lachman, Diana (Phil) Rotschi and Sherryl (Gary) Swafford; grandchildren, Erica (Scott) Kennedy, Danielle Lachman, Nicole Rotschi, Jonathan Rotschi, Jessica (Stephen) Hawley, and Lauren Puskas; great-grandchildren Jackson and Katelyn Kennedy, Kelly and Addison Lachman, Harper Hawley, and Brody Puskas; niece Michele Garber and her family.
The three most important aspects in Norbert’s life were his faith in Judaism, his wife, and his family.
SHARE OBITUARY
v.1.9.5