Torah reader and minyan leader Abe Salem was born in Vengeroff, Poland in 1919. The eldest of seven children, he attended yeshiva in Poland, but hunger drove him to leave school to earn a living. After Kristallnacht, he unsuccessfully attempted to convince his family to leave Poland, and finally escaped to Russia himself after being thrown out of a three-story building by the Nazis and left to die. Imprisoned by the Russians in 1939 as a possible spy, he never saw his family again. Over the next ten years, he travelled through Russia, Poland, and Germany, surviving on his charm, his wits and an ability to lead davening that always earned him a meal when he needed it the most. In 1950, Abe, and his family settled in Pittsburgh in 1951. There he became an integral part of the Pittsburgh Jewish community, where he still leads services, cares for people in need, and shares his knowledge of Torah and stories of his "ordinary" life with anyone willing to listen.