Alex Hacker was born on 7 May 1926 in Budapest into a Hungarian Jewish family. He was attending a technical secondary school when he was conscripted into labour service in 1944. In November of that year, he was deported to the Flossenbürg concentration camp and shortly afterwards to the Mittelbau-Dora concentration camp. Due to his technical knowledge, he had to perform forced labour in the underground rocket production facility. He secretly kept a diary in the camp, leaving one page blank for the day he would return home.
When the Mittelbau camps were cleared in early April 1945, the SS forced Alex Hacker onto one of the clearance transports to Bergen-Belsen. There he was liberated by British troops on 15 April 1945. He finally returned to his hometown of Budapest.
In 1947, he left Hungary and emigrated to Palestine, where he joined the fight for Israel's independence. From 1950 onwards, Alex Hacker studied English in London. He finally found his permanent home in Canada, where he met Florence Bush, a New Yorker who was also of Hungarian descent – his future wife. The couple had three children and four grandchildren.
Alex Hacker was a successful businessman, founding a hotel among other ventures, but he always remained a family man. He stayed active until well into his old age, playing tennis and cycling, and kept his mind sharp.
He returned to Nordhausen many times with his family. Friends and staff of the Memorial remember a message Alex Hacker addressed to Adolf Hitler during one of his visits: ‘I'm still here, you bastard!’
On 28 December 2025, Alex Hacker passed away in Toronto at the age of 99. Our thoughts and sympathy are with his family and friends.
His family has published a digital memorial book for Alex Hacker. You can leave a message for Alex Hacker. You can access the memorial book here.
