The Transformers

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Who

Henry Orenstein, a Polish-born Holocaust survivor and toy inventor

When

1984

Where

United States and Japan

Henry Orenstein survived five Nazi camps, and after the war built a career in toys with more than a hundred patents. Seeing Takara's transforming robots in Japan, he brought them to Hasbro; the Transformers line launched in 1984 and became a franchise of cartoons, comics and films.

Sources

Part of “The Gifts of the Jews” — verified Jewish contributions to the world, with sources.