- published: 21 May 2013
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Miles Lerman (1920 – January 22, 2008) was a Polish-born American who helped to plan and create the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.. Lerman, a Holocaust survivor himself, had fought as a Jewish resistance fighter during World War II in Nazi occupied Poland.
Lerman was born as Szmuel Milek Lerman in Tomaszów Lubelski, Poland, in 1920. His parents were Israel and Yochevet Feldzon Lerman and he was one of five children. His mother, Yochevet, owned an import and export grocery business. His father, Israel, owned several businesses throughout eastern Poland, including a flour mill.
Lerman and his family fled to the city of Lwów following the Nazi invasion of Poland in 1939. Lerman was captured and sent to the Viniki forced labor camp. However, he managed to escape the camp. He spent the next 23 months as a Jewish resistance fighter hidden in the forests surrounding Lwów.
He went to the Polish city of Łódź following the end of the war. There he met his wife, Krysia Rozalia Laks, whom he married in a Displaced Persons camp. The couple emigrated together to the United States in 1947.
Captain America is a fictional character, a superhero who appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Captain America Comics #1 (cover-dated March 1941), from Marvel Comics' 1940s predecessor, Timely Comics, and was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby. As of 2007, an estimated 210 million copies of "Captain America" comic books had been sold in 75 countries. For nearly all of the character's publication history, Captain America was the alter ego of Steve Rogers, a frail young man who was enhanced to the peak of human perfection by an experimental serum in order to aid the United States war effort. Captain America wears a costume that bears an American flag motif, and is armed with an indestructible shield that can be thrown as a weapon.
An intentionally patriotic creation who was often depicted fighting the Axis powers of World War II, Captain America was Timely Comics' most popular character during the wartime period. After the war ended, the character's popularity waned and he disappeared by the 1950s aside from an ill-fated revival in 1953. Captain America was reintroduced during the Silver Age of comics when he was revived from suspended animation by the superhero team the Avengers in The Avengers #4 (March 1964). Since then, Captain America has often led the team, as well as starring in his own series.