Michael Mason (9) (1928–)

Michael Mason was born Miklos Friedman to a Hungarian Jewish family living in Beregszász, Czechoslovakia (present-day Ukraine). In 1934, they moved to Budapest, where he attended school. He was 15 years old in 1944 when Nazi Germany occupied his country in World War II. He was separated from his family and deported to the death camp at Auschwitz, then to the Mühldorf camp in Germany. He did forced labor there for a year, and witnessed thousands die from starvation, disease, and execution. In 1945, he was liberated by U.S. army troops. After recuperating for two months, Michael returned to Budapest, where he learned that his older brother, Laci, and most of his extended family had died in the Holocaust. His parents and two younger brothers survived due to protective passes issued by Raoul Wallenberg, along with his sister. In 1949, in order to leave Hungary, he took on the identity of Miklos Moskovits. Arriving in Canada, he settled in Hamilton, and later changed his name to Michael Mason. He did manual labor and worked in a dental laboratory. After becoming a registered dental technician, he opened his own practice in 1973. He married Ricky, a teacher, with whom he had four children. Michael Mason completed further studies at the University of Toronto to become a denturist (a clinical dental technician who makes dentures). In 1977, he formed the Canadian Raoul Wallenberg Committee. After the death of his first wife, he married Doreen, who had two children. She encouraged him to write his memoir, which was published in 2015 as A Name Unbroken (French translation, Au fil d’un nom), part of The Azrieli Foundation Series of Holocaust Survivor Memoirs. He has also spoken widely of his experiences at schools and places of worship.