The sight of a handsome, energetic octogenarian on a Harley isn't so strange these days but as I watch Alex Kaufman roll out of his yard to explore the great outdoors in Aspen, I wonder how he made it.  The fact that he had become one of the most successful businessmen in America after losing everything and escaping death makes him legendary and makes us wonder.

The story of Kaufman involves some epic plot points of the Great American Dream. He arrived to America after the Second World War penniless - with just a single quarter to his name - and created a half-billion dollar chemical company in New Jersey, after surviving a Nazi prison camp and the loss of his entire family.

He is a role model of what sheer willpower, survival instincts and entrepreneurial ingenuity can create.

With brilliant business skills and a degree in chemistry, Kaufman became the successful owner of several large companies, developing jet engine lubricants for hundreds of aviation manufacturers, and chemical compounds used in Nutrasweet and hundreds of other consumer products.   He now lives in Aspen, enjoying his family, the outdoors and playing tennis. He has a genius for living, a man of the world who owns a vineyard in New Zealand, and is a happy, passionate man who is quick to laugh.

But before his American Dream came true, Alex Kaufman faced some of the darkest times a human can encounter.   A miracle that he even survived, it is remarkable how he was able to create an extraordinary life out of devastating losses.

He was a teenager living with his affluent family in Lwow, Poland before World War II broke out.   Together, the family had an exciting, productive life together.

In 1939, Hitler and Stalin divided up Poland, and Lwow ended up under Soviet rule.  It was the beginning of a nightmare that didn't end until the defeat of Nazi Germany.

With his hometown under Soviet rule, Alex and his family were forced to move out of their home and into a small apartment.   They worked at menial jobs, and Alex and his sister had to learn Russian.  Times were hard, but at least the family was together.

When Germany invaded the Soviet Union in 1941 and took over Poland, the Nazis broke up families and everyone was put to work as slave labor.  Alex was separated from his parents and sister, none of whom he would ever see again.

As a strapping 17-year old, Alex was put to work hammering railroad spikes 14 hours a day.  He saw that Germans were killing Jews all around him, and knew he would be killed soon. Kaufman decided to escape by hopping a slow moving freight train that rolled past the camp.  He ran for the train as it rolled down the tracks.  Shots rang out, and Alex was hit in the foot.

Hanging on for his life, he escaped, traveling deep into the surrounding woods where he finally jumped off to hide.  He was hurt and scared, but alive. To save himself he took the bullet out of his foot with his bare hands.

Convinced that the SS and their dogs were on his trail, Alex went into hiding.  When he thought it safe, he would come out of the woods and chopped wood or other chores on local farms for food.  "I would hire myself to work for food, doing whatever I could on the farms," Alex says.  "There were no men around the area because of the war."  Then he would return to the forest again to hide.  "It was a very primitive existence," he says, "but I felt lucky to be alive."

Kaufman survived through the brutally cold winters on the meager food that he earned or stole, sometimes corn, sometimes a few potatoes. Temperatures often plunged below freezing during the winter, and Kaufman suffered frozen limbs.  He often had to sleep with snow piled around him for warmth.  Hiding for 4 long years he became his own dentist by pulling out one of his teeth with the help of the branches of a tree. " When I hear people complain about smaller things today, I always think back to those days in the forest during the war and think to myself: what could possibly compare to that hardship?" he says.

With the war in Europe coming to an end in 1945, Alex's desire to prove the Nazis wrong had sustained and motivated him.   "I felt I had a drive to survive.  It was almost like a game, to prove I could outsmart the SS and their dogs."

Kaufman's toughness helped him overcome his horrible living conditions.  "No matter what anyone does to you, or what your circumstances are, you can survive if you have the bigger goal in mind.  That was something that always kept me going.  That ability to think ahead is something that was always there all my life."

When the Soviets returned to Poland, Alex looked for his family but couldn't find a trace of them.  Despite his tragic loss, he decided that he needed to create a new life for himself in the land of his dreams - America.   He would get an education and then set out for the Land of Liberty, where he was convinced he could be successful.  He graduated from an accelerated Polish high school program in two years and decided to enroll at Stuttgart University in Germany.   Despite the brutal treatment of Poland and his family by the Germans, he thought the university would give him the best opportunity for a first rate education.

In Stuttgart Alex prospered.  He helped run a small Jewish restaurant and nightclub and got a degree in Chemistry.  He was eager to start his new life in America.

"Honor the past, live in the present," he says while explaining how important it was for him to keep on going as opposed to stay grief stricken. " As if I never had the time to mourn, " he says.

In 1950, his boat finally approached New York harbor and he passed the Statue of Liberty, an image that he still hold dear in his mind. The dream of living in America that had sustained him through his darkest hours was coming true. 

On February 2, 1950 Alex Kaufman stepped on American soil for the first time with only a single quarter in startup funds. Desperately needing a job, he was soon fixing sewing machines New York's garment district.

Alex got his English lessons in movie theaters, where for a few cents he could learn the language and enjoy some entertainment. As his language skills improved, Alex soon took a job washing lab ware for the Hatco Chemical Company located in New Jersey.  It only paid 70 cents an hour, but the kid from Lwow had finally found a home.

The management at Hatco quickly recognized Alex's skills and moved him to the position of lab technician.  "I knew that I would be able to get to the top.  I had a vision of what I was supposed to be doing," he says.  He got a promotion to production manager just as Hatco was sold to W.R. Grace and Company in 1959.  It was the start of a long term relationship with J. Peter Grace, the president of the company and someone who mentored Alex's business skills.

In 1962, Alex was promoted to president of the Hatco Chemical division of W.R. Grace.  In just 12 years he had gone from dishwasher to company president and later owner. A remarkable journey from a brilliant man who learned to overcome tragedies that our generation can hardly even comprehend let alone experience.  Hatco was now producing revenue in the hundreds of millions of dollars, primarily from the manufacture of polyol ester base stocks for synthetic lubricants, and the company was on a steady growth curve, all due to Kaufman's management.

With his ambitious vision, Alex began purchasing companies with synergistic products to improve efficiency and reduce cost, and developed relationships with major business partners like Exxon, Lubrizol, DuPont and Proctor and Gamble.

Outside the chemical industry he purchased Herman's Sporting Goods, and expanded the local retailer nationwide. He also helped create the Jones Apparel Division of W.R. Grace (now Jones New York), one of the most fashionable women's clothiers in the U.S. 

In ten years, Alex took Hatco from $10 million to $500 million in revenue. He continued to move up the corporate ladder, eventually becoming the executive vice president at Grace. He also acquired a stable of chemical companies, becoming one of the most successful players in the industry.

In 1978, Alex Kaufman bought Hatco from W.R. Grace. He was finally at the top, in charge of 300 employees and the president of a company that made specialty chemicals for the food, cosmetic, medical, aviation, surfactant and industrial markets.  With Hatco as the core of operations, Alex Kaufman had become a model of entrepreneurial success. 

Hatco companies supplied the key synthetic jet engine lubricants that were key to the development of the Jet Age, with customers like Pratt & Whitney, General Electric and Rolls Royce and eventually over 370 airlines. Today, more than half of all the civilian and military jets used in the world rely on Hatco lubricant products, and their quality control record boasts billions of miles flown by jet turbines lubricated with Hatco products without a single engine failure.

Kaufman also acquired companies like Anderol Inc., Royal Lubricants, and Estech GmbH & Co. His companies supplied ingredients for products by Neutrogena, Coppertone, Avon, Aveeno and Lubriderm. Seeing the danger in America's huge sweet tooth, Alex came up with the primary ingredients now used in NutraSweet, which became an industry leader as a sugar substitute. 

In September 1993, Alex flew to Washington DC to witness the historic handshake of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestine Liberation Organization leader Yasir Arafat at the White House.  In 1998 he was honored as the Entrepreneur of the Year in New Jersey.

In 2007, Alex Kaufman sold Kaufman Holdings and relocated to Aspen CO, but he is far from retired. As a resident of Aspen, he has a passion for motorcycles and automobiles, riding Harleys around the scenic local landscape, is an avid tennis player, and also devotes a lot of time to helping organizations like the Aspen Institute, which hosts many of the world's greatest leaders and thinkers.

He also authored a significant legacy to his children with A Letter to my Grandchildren, a story of his life experience and code of values based on common sense that he feels are important to pass along to the younger generation.

Now, with his business achievements behind him, Alex enjoys traveling around the world and the company of his friends and family. He's a man who knows how to live life to the fullest, enjoying fine wine, telling stories, and still having that mischievous handsome twinkle in his eyes with a seductive smile.  A survivor of history's darkest hours and brilliant businessman, it is miraculous that Alex Kaufman, who had so much taken away, has so much now to give.  He is a shining example of sheer willpower, how fulfilling the American Dream can be with dedication and hard work, and that miracles do happen if one believes.

Story by Adrienne Papp.
Photos courtesy of Adrienne Papp.