After surviving the Holocaust as a child, Oscar Sladek moved to the Fairfax District in the late 1950s, where he became a part of the folk music scene. (photo courtesy of DSEC)

By the time Oscar Sladek arrived in the Fairfax District in 1958, he had survived the Holocaust, served in the Israeli army, taught accordion in Venezuela and learned seven languages. He was 23 years old.

Folk music was thriving in Los Angeles, and after performing alongside a friend at Ash Grove club on Melrose Avenue, Sladek was soon swept up in the scene, playing gigs across the city and eventually across the state, he said.

“I befriended people like … Judy Collins and the Limeliters, all those groups,” Sladek said. “It was just before the Vietnam War. To me, those were really good times.”

Sladek’s immersion into L.A.’s late-1950s folk scene followed a narrow escape from the Nazis as a young child, an experience he has recounted in a new memoir, “Escape to the Tatras.”

He had been speaking publicly about his experience for decades, and people would often ask him where they could buy his book. Eventually, Sladek decided it was time to write one, he said.

The memoir begins with Sladek’s birth in 1935 in Czechoslovakia, and details his family’s efforts to elude the Nazis, hiring smugglers to transport them to relatives in Hungary, and creating false identities to live in hiding in the Tatras Mountains – on the border of modern-day Slovakia and Poland – where they were eventually liberated by Russian soldiers.

Written for a young adult audience, Sladek said he wanted to educate young Americans – particularly Jewish Americans – about how quickly freedom can turn to fascism.

Despite a recent increase in antisemitic incidents, Sladek is confident that America will always be a safe haven for Jewish people. He rejects comparisons between modern day America and Europe during the 1930s, and said that Jews can find safety in solidarity with other minority groups.

Of all the lessons learned from the Holocaust, Sladek said it is the value of befriending your neighbor, no matter their background, that is most important to teach the youth.

As a child, Sladek often heard adults speak dismissively about goyim (non-Jews). As he’s grown older, he realized it was a mistake to create so much isolation between communities.

“We need to realize we are not the only ones living in the world and we are not the only ones who believe in justice, there are other people who want to live like that,” Sladek said. “Make friendships and stand up for them when they have problems, so if things get worse in this country they will come to our help. I believe that.”

Sladek arrived in L.A. after moving from Europe to Israel to Caracas, Venezuela. After an attempt to overthrow the government, Sladek, fearing war, decided to visit a cousin in Los Angeles, he said.

Indeed, it was Los Angeles’ welcoming spirit that made Slade feel at home, he said.

“I was accepted very fast there, and it impressed me that, ‘Gee, Americans are friendly people.’ It doesn’t happen in every country,” Sladek said. “There was no smog at that time. The air was beautiful and I looked around and said, ‘Wow, I feel in love with this country.”’

He enrolled in a film school, hoping to make it in the movie business, and lived in the Fairfax District, the bustling heart of Jewish Los Angeles, where Yiddish and Hebrew were spoken frequently in the busy shops lining Fairfax Avenue.

Canter’s Delicatessen was “hopping” at all hours of the day, and entertainers flocked to the restaurant late at night, when many others had closed, Sladek said.

Sladek soon became an entertainer himself. He was a regular at Ash Grove, which is now The Improv; Cosmo Alley, a folk venue owned by legendary actor and singer Theodore Bickel on Sunset Boulevard and Vine Street; and at Hartmann’s, a café and folk house on the corner of Fairfax Avenue and Wilshire Boulevard.

He became a hot ticket among Jewish organizations, too. After being hired to perform for the Jewish National Fund, “word got around town,” Sladek said.

“I was very busy, I was running around with my accordion,” Sladek said.

In 1960, Sladek’s wife became pregnant, and they moved to her hometown of Denver to start a family. He spent 20 years working as executive director of Jewish congregations in Denver, and continued to play music. He still sees music as a unifying force, a way to create connection  between people of different backgrounds.

“When we have Hanukkah parties, my daughter invites all kinds of other people [besides Jews],” Sladek said. “I usually have other musicians with me and we play all kinds of music. Everybody likes it, everybody likes music. It’s a tool to bring people together.”

“Escape to the Tatras” is available at the Los Angeles County Public Library, the Beverly Hills Public Library and the Holocaust Museum Los Angeles.