I read somewhere that the actor who played LeBeau in Hogan’s Heroes was actually a Holocaust survivor.
Robert Clary (LeBeau) was born in Paris. At age 16, he was deported from Paris to the Buchenwald concentration camp, where he spent 31 months and was tattooed with ID A5714. 12 of his 13 family members were killed in Auschwitz.
John Banner (Sgt Schultz) was born to Jewish parents in Stanislau, Austria-Hungary (now Ukraine). He was acting in Switzerland in 1938 after the Anschluss and went to the US. At age 28, he weighed 180 pounds and spoke no english.
Werner Klemperer (Klink) was born in Cologne, Germany. His family came to US when he was a teenager. He was in the US Army 1942-1945.
His memoir: “From the Holocaust to Hogan’s Heroes: The Autobiography of Robert Clary”, is a great read. I gave my copy to Lazamataz.
Clary’s (not his real name) family were Polish Jews resident in France. He survived the concentration camp because he was a singer and dancer and told jokes. Germans used him as an entertainer at their parties.