Gustav “Gus” Gutman left Germany with his parents and grandmother in 1939, when he was four years old. His father had been imprisoned during Kristallnacht, a pogrom against Jews which took place on November 9-10, 1938 in Nazi Germany and Austria. During that time, Gus, his mother and grandmother were confined to their attic after Nazis took over the rest of their home. His father was released after promising that his family would leave Germany. They stayed with Gutman’s uncle in England while they awaited permission to go to the United States, eventually settling in Chicago. Gus later earned his bachelor's degree in chemistry from Roosevelt University and his master's degree from Loyola before taking a job at 3M in St. Paul. He and his wife, Greta, raised three children. A play Gus wrote about his experience, called “Guests of the City,” was produced in his hometown of Hildesheim in 2005; he played his father on stage in a theater where his parents had been season subscribers until Jews were banned. Gus passed away on January 11, 2014 at the age of 78.