Holocaust survivor Nick Hope dies at age 100
Holocaust survivor and longtime Calistogan Nick Hope died on March 10 at Adventist Health St. Helena hospital at age 100, following complications from pneumonia.
Hope, who lived through a famine, the Holocaust and a battle with addiction, spoke publicly about the importance of his faith, forgiveness, and, as his anglicized name suggests, hope.
“He was full of hope, resilient, patient and firm as a rock,” said his youngest son, George Hope. “He knew what suffering was all about and was loving and kind to everyone he met.”
Hope was born Nikolai Xoprenko on Aug. 14, 1924 in the coal mining village of Petrovka, Ukraine. As a child, he lived through the Holodomor famine, which killed two of his brothers. After he left home at age 17 in search of work, he was arrested by Adolf Hitler’s SS soldiers and taken as a forced laborer to Wolfratshausen, Germany. He worked there for nearly a year before being sent to Dachau concentration camp in February 1943.
Three months after Hope arrived at Dachau, he raised his hand to volunteer for a transfer to the Munich-Allach Dachau subcamp to work at a BMW armament factory, a split-second decision that he later said saved his life. At the subcamp, he suffered torture, abuse and starvation as he witnessed friends and fellow prisoners perish around him.
In April 1945, as American forces closed in on the concentration camp, Hope and other prisoners were evacuated and sent walking for days on what he later found out was a “death march.” The group was intercepted and liberated by the U.S. Army’s 42nd Rainbow Division.
Life after liberation wasn’t easy. Weighing just 80 pounds and suffering from several injuries and ailments, Hope spent the next four years in and out of hospitals, recovering from the years of abuse and malnutrition. It was at the hospital where he met his wife, Nadia, also a Holocaust survivor.
“After the Holocaust, I wondered every day how I got through that,” Hope told the Tribune last September. “Before I found the Lord, I thought because of my experiences, I would never be normal. I couldn’t forget what I had been through.”
Hope said after he found God, he learned that forgetting was not the answer. Forgiveness was.
In Germany, he and Nadia had two children, Olga and Victor, before the couple immigrated with Victor to the U.S. in 1961. They settled in Calistoga and had two more children, Jenny and George.
Hope worked as a landscaper, and later as a carpenter, constructing many homes and local landmarks, including the Sharpsteen Museum. He also helped renovate popular resorts, such as Dr. Wilkinson’s Backyard Resort and Mineral Springs and Golden Haven Spa.
He lived with his two sons at the Myrtle Street home he built for his family in the 1960s, and maintained an active lifestyle, regularly working out and walking with family. The centenarian credited his longevity with a healthy diet and exercise.
Hope was committed to his physical health and adhered to a strict exercise routine, which he did with the help of his physical therapist and his children. His workouts were built on the Arnold Schwarzenegger-backed fitness app, The Pump, and his daily regimen was fine-tuned by Schwarzenegger himself.
“He wasn’t 100 to us,” George said. “He was always punctual and thorough and had an amazing work ethic, and it showed in his physical being. He made every effort to be as healthy as possible so he could continue his legacy, sharing his love of God to everyone he came in contact with.”
The Holocaust survivor returned to the Dachau memorial site many times with family to commemorate the camp’s liberation and speak about his experiences. Most recently, he traveled there last May for the 79th anniversary; he had intended to travel there again for the 80th anniversary. Some of Hope’s family still plans to travel to Germany next month to attend the anniversary in his honor.
Hope was preceded in death by his daughter, Olga Xoprenko, and his wife, Nadia Hope. He is survived by his children Victor Hope, Jenny Hope McLaren and George Hope, and by his grandchildren Janessa Vella, Jacob Shafer and Joseph Shafer.
A memorial service will be held on Sunday, March 30, at 11 a.m. at St. Helena Seventh-day Adventist Church, at 1777 Main St., St. Helena.
His family is requesting donations be made at this link.