Nick Hope, Northern California Holocaust survivor, dies at 100

By Ashley Sharp

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    CALISTOGA, California (KOVR/KMAX) — Nick Hope, among the last living Holocaust survivors in Northern California, died Monday afternoon at the age of 100.

Hope’s family tells CBS News Sacramento he has been in and out of the hospital since January battling complications from pneumonia and the flu.

He is survived by his three children Victor Hope, Jenny McLaren and George Hope, and three grandchildren. His beloved wife Nadja, also a Holocaust survivor, died in 2015.

“I will miss him greatly,” said Jenny. “He is my hero, my protector I could depend on without a doubt.”

“He was truly a hero,” Victor agreed.

After WWII, Nick and Nadja relocated to Calistoga where they lived out the remainder of their long lives and raised their family.

Nick became a renowned contractor in the Napa Valley city, even building the very family home that his children grew up in by hand.

“He built like half of Calistoga. I would go in and out of the houses he’d build and always would admire his work,” said Jenny.

Nick, over a century of life and in his final days, found peace alongside family.

“I grasped his hand and he told me, ‘We are together to the end.’ With his hand clasped very hard, very strong,” said George, reflecting on some of his final moments in the hospital with his father.

“I held his hand, I kissed his hand, I kissed his forehead, I told him his grandkids loved him by name. I put my head on his chest one last time, because that was comforting for me as a child. I used to love to watch his chest rise every time he would take a breath and I would try to breathe with him,” said Jenny.

Much of Nick’s life was defined by a resilience that most people cannot even comprehend.

As a child he survived the Holodomor, a forced famine in his home country of Ukraine that killed millions of people, including two of his own brothers.

In his teenage years, Nick was sent to a forced labor camp in Germany and then to Dachau concentration camp for nearly three years.

CBS13 profiled Nick’s incredible story in a three-part series that aired in May of 2024.

In his own words, Nick described the feeling of hopelessness upon crossing the gates into Dachau.

“No more man, not a name. Zero. When you step in, you are a dead man,” he reflected in September 2024.

Last year, Nick got to go back to Dachau one last time for its 79th annual remembrance of the camp’s liberation.

His dream was to make it to this year’s 80th ceremony, sadly he would not be given the chance.

“He was preparing himself. We would walk every day, everything he did was all geared for the trip. Most importantly, he wanted to be there for us. He understood his age, but was always surprised. 100 years old, can you imagine?” said George.

To survive some of the world’s darkest days, Nick clung to two things.

“Faith and forgiveness are the two elements. I’m so thankful he gave me that incredible example,” said George. “I will carry it to the end of my own life.”

Nick turned 100 years old in September, surrounded by friends, family and music.

Just months before in May, CBS13 through its reporting reconnected Nick with Dan Doughtery of Fairfield, an American soldier whose unit liberated Dachau that fateful day.

They had lived within an hour of each other all these years after WWII’s end.

“I can’t explain. Everybody dancing, some praying, some crying. We are free. We are free,” said Nick to Dougherty of the moment he saw the American tanks while on a death march out of the camp.

Nick shared a story that so few are alive today to tell. Now, his death marks one less first-hand account of this chapter of world history.

Up until the day he died, Nick’s own last name was his driving force: Hope.

“Yeah, he was quite a fighter,” said Victor. “And no matter what, he said, you have to endure to the end.”

“He fought. He fought to the end. The most beautiful thing he always says, I will say and carry this as well. No matter what happens in our lives, just keep going. Keep going. And look up. Because that is where redemption is,” said George through tears.

The Hope family has been raising money in an online fundraiser in recent months to support Nick’s trip back to Dachau and his unexpected medical expenses.

The family is asking for continued donations, saying anything given now will help support the cost of his funeral.

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