Uno De Los Muestros - Highlighting One of Our Own: 105 Years Young, Dr. Henry Nahoum - Felisitasiones!

Dr. Henry Nahoum

Born in September 1919, Dr. Henry I. Nahoum has been a member of the Sephardic Brotherhood since birth and is today the oldest living member of our Sephardic Community! His parents had come to the states, just 3 years prior from Salonika, Greece. Henry’s father worked in a burlap bag factory, making bags for farmers, later owned a small Mediterranean style grocery store selling Greek and Italian foods. In 1931 when the business took a turn downward, the family moved to Brooklyn.

Henry entered dental school at Columbia University in 1940, working hard on the side to pay for his education. During his time at Columbia, Henry began to hear from his classmates who were German Jews that had managed to flee Germany, that Jews were being imprisoned, yet there was no mention of any executions. That information had yet to become public knowledge in the United States.

Although he was not subject to the military draft of World War II, he enlisted in the army as soon as he received his dental degree in 1943. He earned a commission as a first lieutenant and served as a dental officer in a combat engineer group, and with the 28th Infantry Division in Europe, where he earned two Battle Stars.

Dispatched to England in 1944, Henry was thrust into the replacement depots, waiting for an assignment. In January 1945, in the midst of the devastating Allied losses incurred during the Battle of the Bulge, Henry was called upon to replace one of the six dental officers that were casualties or taken prisoner during the battle, and was assigned to the 109th Regiment of the 28th Infantry division. Each division had 12 dental officers and the 28th had lost half of them in battle. Henry was quickly warned to remove any trace of Red Cross clothing around his arms, as the German snipers were said to use these as targets. Although when Henry arrived, the battle had taken a turn in favor of the Allies, there were still many skirmishes that he witnessed.  

As part of the 109th Regiment, Henry and his soldiers were amongst the 1st to cross the Rhine River, chasing Germans. While not certain of the name of the town (they were somewhere near Stuttgart and Heidelberg), they approached a Nazi prison camp as the German guards abandoned the camp and ran away.  Henry gives credit to the entire effort of the Allied soldiers, both in Europe and back at home in the States for liberating the camps. He said the units who came after them that brought the food, blankets and cigarettes could not have done it without the help of Henry’s men, who chased the guards.

Following his wartime service, Henry practiced general dentistry in the Bronx for 10 years and then trained in orthodontics at Columbia. He was invited to join the faculty at Columbia University and supervised the postgraduate orthodontic clinic for 20 years, helped to train residents in orthodontics and plastic and reconstructive surgery, and was a member of the cleft lip/cleft palate team. His research on pressure forming of thermal plastics to make appliances had a significant impact on the practice of dentistry. The result of his work simplified many existing procedures, including the production of night guards and retainers. He also initiated new methods for treating orthodontic patients. Indeed, an extraordinary legacy in medicine and service to his country.

Para Munchos Anyos Henry - to many more years for you Henry!