Samuel Klein (businessman)

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This article is about the Brazilian businessman. For other people of the same name, see Samuel Klein (disambiguation).

Samuel Klein (born 15 November 1923 in Zaklików, Poland) is a business person who founded the Casas Bahia string of department stores in Brazil.

[edit] Early life

Klein worked as a joiner at the time of the Nazi invasion of Poland in World War II, when he was taken to the Maidanek concentration camp along with his father. His mother and siblings went to Treblinka. He was later transported to Auschwitz in 1944. He escaped from the soldiers on July 22; in his own words, "I didn't know where I was going, but I was certain to get far from the group." He spent the night in the fields, where some Christian Polish fugitives helped him flee. He managed to return to his old house, which was ruined, and worked on a small farm in the area in exchange for food.

After the war, he met his sister Sezia and brother Solomon (who live today in New York). The Klein brothers went to Germany, and were able to find their father alive. Klein lived in Munich until 1951, where he met Chana, his future wife.

[edit] Brazil and Casas Bahia

Klein's father went to Brazil, together with his sister Esther. He himself wanted to emigrate to the United States, but the immigration quota was full. So he decided to go join his father and sister in South America instead. He managed to make his way to Brazil via Bolivia, and settled with his family in São Caetano do Sul, in greater São Paulo.

There he began working in business, selling sheets, tablecloths, and towels door to door. After five years, he opened his first store, Casa Bahia. The name was an homage to his patrons, the majority of whom were migrant workers from the northeast state of Bahia. Today, there are more than 500 of these stores, making Casas Bahia the largest warehouse distributor in Latin America.