Born in
Tarnów,
Poland and raised in
Kraków, he was captured by the German army during
World War II forced onto a train and deported to
Auschwitz. However, before the train reached the notorious concentration camp, Hornstein jumped from its side. He spent the rest of the war — which claimed the lives of innumerable of his family members and friends — hiding from the Nazis in the forests of
Czechoslovakia and living in
Budapest before decamping for
Bratislava. In Bratislava, he met Renata Witelson, another Polish Jew fleeing Nazi persecution. Witelson had spent much of the war in hiding — in the
Warsaw Ghetto, in a convent, with a Polish family and in safe houses. It was in one of those safe houses that the couple met. In 1946, they were married in Rome. He immigrated to Canada in 1951, at the encouragement of the Canadian ambassador to Italy, whom they had befriended, and relocated to Montreal. He became a citizen in 1957. He founded the company, Federal Construction Ltd., a real estate company, where he made his fortune and remained president of the company until his final days. The couple's name also graces an existing pavilion, which houses galleries dedicated to Asian and Islamic art. The Hornsteins also donated money to education and health care, namely the
Montreal Heart Institute, the
Montreal General Hospital,
Hôpital Notre-Dame and the
Jewish General Hospital. Their son
Norbert Hornstein is a linguist who made notable contributions to
generative syntax. On Wednesday, June 11, 2014, at the
John Molson School of Business’ spring convocation ceremony,
Concordia University conferred upon Michal and Renata Hornstein honorary doctorates in recognition of their lifetime of philanthropy. == Death ==