Holocaust survivor became a prolific sculptor in his 50s

Holocaust survivor Alfred Arthur Tibor was delayed from pursuing his ambition to become a sculptor until later in life.

But Tibor made up for lost time as he left a lasting mark with his work on display around central Ohio. His sculptures are featured in more than 500 public and private collections, including the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem.

Tibor, 97, died peacefully Saturday at Sunrise Living Center of Bexley, surrounded by his family.

His life was formed by his harrowing experiences growing up Jewish in Hungary during the rise of Nazism and World War II.

Starting in 1940, he was a forced laborer for three years during the Nazi occupation of Hungary. His ordeal dragged on as he served an additional four years in a Soviet gulag as a prisonerofHe lost 86 relatives to the war. “I was in a forced-labor battalion of 275. Two of us stayed alive. There had to be a reason for one of those two to be me.”

Tibor returned to Hungary in 1947 and emigrated to United States in 1957 shortly after the aborted Hungarian uprising against Soviet occupation.

He first settled in Miami and worked as an advertising director. The turning point occurred in the early 1970s when Jerome Schottenstein brought him to Columbus to work with Value City Furniture Stores.

It was then, in his 50s, that Tibor began pursuing his passion, teaching himself to sculpt. Much of Tibor’s work revolved Tibor around the Holocaust, and he frequently spoke to groups and students about experiences.

One of his last sculptures, titled “Zahor” — Hebrew for remember — stands in front of Agudas Achim Synagogue at South Stanwood and East Broad streets. It shows victims herded by Nazi soldiers into a gas chamber, but a survivor emerges from a smokestack holding an Israeli flag in the air.

He also has a sculpture, “Soldier of Humanity,” in front of the Chalmers P. Wylie Veterans Clinic.

He is survived by his wife, Susan, a daughter and son, five grandchildren and a great grandson. A funeral service will be held Monday afternoon at Congregation Agudas Achim. Epstein Memorial Chapel is handling arrangements.