Holocaust Survivor Remembers Pain of War

While Wolf made it out alive, his father and stepmother weren't as fortunate; both were gassed at Treblinka, a place where 99 percent of prisoners were dead within two hours.

"Something terrible," Wolf said, shaking his head. "I will never forget it."

When the war ended, Wolf was in the last camp to be liberated by the Allies. The war's end marked the beginning of his eight-year journey -- first to a U.S.-run refugee camp in Austria, then to Israel, where he fought in the Arab-Israeli war as a member of the Israeli Air Force. And in 1953 he immigrated to America.

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In November, after 63 years, Wolf returned to Germany, this time as a distinguished guest of the German government to open a memorial at the former site of I.G. Farben's headquarter in Frankfurt, where so much suffering took place.

The company was charged with war crimes for powering deadly concentration camps. Its main building has since been converted into a university, but the campus is still marked by the photographs and serial numbers of some of the victims.

"I am happy that from the I.G. Farben headquarters they built a university," he said. "Finally I.G. Farben has been eliminated, and we are above them now."

Wolf hopes the university's students understand the legacy of this place and know that "we are all God's people. … We should all get along."

For Wolf, visiting the memorial was an emotional reunion, providing a chance to heal but also to connect with the fellow survivors who became his family.

"You talk about so many things," Wolf said. "'What did you do? What commander did you work? What block, what barrack?'"

It was also a time to put this all behind him and move forward, enjoying the freedom of a simple life.

"It's like I'm free," Wolf said. "I can do what I want. I can work where I want. It's open for me."