Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.[1] Siegbert Wilzig was born in 1926 in Krojanke in West Prussia, Germany (now Krajenka, Poland), the son of traditional Jewish parents and the second youngest of eight children.
In 1936 Siegbert and his family fled mounting antisemitism in their town and relocated to Berlin, where his father made a living selling textiles.
He expressed his gratitude by spending the next two years as a volunteer helping the U.S. Counter-Intelligence Corps track down former SS and other operators of Hitler's camps.
In the 1950s Wilzig accepted whatever jobs he could find, including bow-tie presser, traveling salesman, and eventually general manager of a furniture store.
In the early 1960s, Wilzig began spending his sales commissions to purchase stock in Wilshire Oil Company of Texas.
Despite his ignorance of the oil and gas industry, he demonstrated to Wilshire's board of directors that he possessed extraordinary insight when it came to business decisions.
[5] Sensing that future growth would depend on access to large amounts of cash, Wilzig led Wilshire in acquiring a controlling interest in the Trust Company of New Jersey (TCNJ), a full-service commercial bank.
Once again, despite his lack of experience in the particulars of the industry, Wilzig grew TCNJ into one of the largest, most profitable mid-sized banks in the state of New Jersey.
[6] In addition to his business interests, Wilzig was a leading figure in Jewish humanitarian and philanthropic affairs, particularly projects relating to the Holocaust.
He raised more than $100 million in Israeli bonds, and for his support of the State of Israel was awarded the nation's Prime Minister's Medal.