Page "Roald Hoffmann" Paragraph 1

Hoffmann was born in Zolochiv ,( Ukraine ) to a Jewish family and was named in honor of the Norwegian explorer, Roald Amundsen.

After Germany invaded Poland and occupied the town, his family was placed in a labor camp where his father, a civil engineer familiar with much of the local infrastructure, was a valued prisoner.

As the situation grew more dangerous, with prisoners being transferred to liquidation camps, the family bribed guards to allow an escape and arranged with Ukrainian neighbors for Hoffman, his mother, two uncles and an aunt to hide in the attic and a storeroom of the local schoolhouse, where they remained for fifteen months, while Hoffman was aged 5 to 7.