Dr. Benjamin M. Nachman, a retired Omaha dentist and long-time Holocaust researcher, 'discovered' David Kaufmann while interviewing a survivor for the Steven Spielberg Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation. In 1969, Rabbi Myer S. Kripke, who officiated at the funeral of Mr. David Kaufmann, learned that Mr. Kaufmann was Mr. Grand Island and that he had been, throughout his life, a role model for cherished Jewish values and had demonstrated that wealth is truly held only in stewardship. It is deeds, generosity and courage that counts! David Kaufmann was born in Germany in 1875. He was educated and then began his professional life in merchandising and retail in Berlin, and other cities near Bonn and Cologne. At the age of 28, in 1903, he left Germany for America. He started working at A & S Department Store in Brooklyn, NY, but Mr. S.N.Wolbach, a Grand Island, Nebraska, merchant was so impressed by him that he encouraged him to come to Nebraska. And that was the beginning. Kaufmann as a businessman played a major humanitarian and leadership role in his adopted community. He was also personally responsible for orchestrating and sponsoring the immigration of Jewish families during WWII to safety in his adopted community. His story has become the theme of a 2024 film.