Sidney Glucksman, 87

Sidney Glucksman, aka ​“Sidney the Tailor,” a West River and New Haven institution, has died at 87 years old.

His funeral is scheduled for Monday at noon at Cong. B’nai Jacob, 75 Rimmon Rd., in Woodbridge.

Expect a crowd, from all walks of life. Glucksman’s tailor shop, run with his wife Libby Glucksman, was an anchor of the West River neighborhood. Sidney was a confidant and friend of cops, mayors, and the people on the block alike.

Glucksman was a Holocaust survivor. A film called Threads was made about 12-year-old Sidney’s capture in 1939 by the Nazis, his endurance, luck and eventual liberation by U.S. troops from the concentration camp at Dachau six years later. Click here to read a story about that, and about a screening and talk about it that drew 400 people to the Jewish Community Center; click on the video to watch and listen to Glucksman.

And click here for a story about the time Glucksman told his story at Notre Dame High School — and about how he met New Haven cop Leo Bombalicki at a crime scene and how they became friends.

“I am thank God a survivor,” he told students. ​“And I can tell the story the way it was.” He urged them to tell the story, too, so the world would never forget.

Contributions in Glucksman’s honor can be made to United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, 100 Raoul Wallenberg Place,S.W., Washington, D.C. 20024 – 2126 or to Vitas Hospice, 199 Park Rd., Ext., Middlebury, CT 06762.

Shiva will take place at 90 Mumford Rd. in New Haven, on Monday following the funeral services and 6:30 p.m. — 8 p.m., Tuesday and Wednesday, 1p.m. — 4p.m. and 6:30p.m. — 8p.m.