announcer: it seemed to happen in an instant. a cubic mile, tons of ash, rock, and ice were rocketed into the stratosphere. the cloud reached nearly 14 miles into the sky. >> in 1940 5, 70 years ago, allied forces liberated not to concentration camps. for the next several weeks on american history tv, we hear holocaust stories from those who live them. these interviews are part of the world history collection at the united states holocaust memorial museum in washington d.c. up next, mayer adler talks about being deported to auschwitz it

their separation and his later transferred to a labor concentration camp. he remembers liberation and returning to his childhood home researched unsuccessfully for any of his immediate relatives. this oral history is almost 90 minutes. >> tell me where you were born and when? adler: czechoslovakia, october 6, 1929. >> will be something about your family and your life before the war. adler: we were what i would describe as a typical jewish family in a small town. i had two younger brothers, and my parents. a lot of monson uncles and cousins. -- aunts and uncles and cousins. as i said, a normal kind of orthodox judaism, every friday for example the world stopped.

everyone came home. we went to services friday afternoon on friday evening saturday was very peaceful. no labor, no money. no commerce of any kind. >> what did your father do? adler: he was a merchant. he did several things. we had a lumber business. farming and things of that sort. basically that's what he was really doing. >> do have many recollections of that period? adler: mostly the hardships, and as things were getting tougher when i remember -- i guess it was a world depression at the time. a lot of famine and hunger during that time.

the hardships they came with the war, i remember. i'm reversing the planes going over our town when they were attacking poland when the war started. and the hardships that -- once we were occupied. >> can you tell us about the detail? the experiences you had? adler: i'm not sure what i was, but one time, we were taken over to czechoslovakia as it was taken over by germany. we were given to hungary. we became part of hungary. i seem german were we had to reestablish citizenship. that took quite a bit of effort and money. to become on gary and citizens. that might have been 1940.

>> do you remember when the war started? adler: i reversing planes going over to poland. we saw a sky full of planes going over us. the war wasn't in 1939. that had very little effect in concern for the world, i was too young to make much difference. but i member that. leaflets used to drop every so often. but then we were taken over by hungary and we became hungary and citizens. life seemed to go on with some difficulty, almost normal. but one time, jewish kids could go to public school. i could go to parochial school and public school. my father used to have to pay -- hired somebody to give a private lessons. that's what i remember. >> tell us what happened as time

went on. adler: it just seems to have become more difficult. your rights were taken away, jews could not have any businesses. at some level, i remember that i had to work, we had the lumber business and there were ways to bring lumber down from the mountain. i was working at that. there was a lumber mill. my cousin ran the lumber mill. this wasn't the one there. there was a lot of lumber, that was the major business there. transporting lumber from the mountains to the lumber mill and chopping it up, making lumber out of it and shipping it off. it was a rural area. there were no public transportation, there was a train service. no buses. those are some of the things

that i remember. >> things began to close in a get more difficult? adler: it was getting more difficult, jews were being beaten on an by hungarian police. but really, a lot of that is foggy to me. >> how about your own family? over the impact on the events? adler: my brothers were quite young. not that i was an old man. there was a two-year difference between each of us. the family was close, during times of trouble, you seem to get closer. in my hometown, we had -- let's see, one uncle, we had to uncles living in town. some of them were living in surrounding towns. we had a bunch of cousins.

the community was quite close to begin with. but everybody was affected by it. >> you were able to live in the same place? adler: we lived in the same home until the end really. things were getting tougher. we had to spend whatever money we had i think to buy off officials and i member the thing that it was very difficult establishing for some reason we had to establish on citizenship. i seem to remember that took a lot of money. >> where folks scared -- were your folks scared? adler: there was some talk we were going to be deported. we didn't know what it was all about. we knew something was going on in poland, they were killing people. nobody really believe them.

but for some reason, we were not deported. the whole town there were several towns, we were not the only one, were left intact. >> did you see any nazis? adler: i'm not sure if i saw them before auschwitz. the hunt were just as bad. >> with instances of hungarian speeding people -- beating people? adler: i.r. number one guy they arrested for trumped up charges. in all fairness, we were shielded from a lot of it. we were in a small town off the beaten track. it wasn't coming through daily it wasn't the kind of thing you would see daily. wendy: -- >> how long to that

something last -- did that sort of thing last? adler: on it off. there were problems coming release the anticipation. but things were getting worse as we went along. in perhaps the end of 1943, beginning of 44, that's when things were getting bad. going from bad to worse. >> tell us about that. adler: we knew we were going to be deported. it was a question of trying to do. or self -- trying to prepare yourself. without we were going to go as a family to a camp. and be used as labor camps. physical labor. we had family gatherings and meetings about that as to how we should handle that, how we could handle it. it became a fact that we were going to be deported, we were

trying to prepare for that. you baked in you prepared, my mother made all kinds of things including small pillows we could take with us so we would have -- it whatever we should carry, if we could have a new home. i.r. number one of the discussions i mother used to complain to me that i'm not preparing for whatever we're going to be deported. i said don't worry about it, i can sleep on the floor and my arm will be the pillow. they were baking cookies that will last a lifetime, those kind of things. i just rumor preparing for that day. having meetings as to what we could do about it, the didn't seem to be much we can do about it. >> when the day came, what happened? adler: several thing happened before the day came. as it was getting closer, we're trying to figure out what

happened and when, i was becoming more and more vocal in the family saying this seems stupid to sit here and wait to be arrested and taken somewhere. my father used to say that he really does know what we could do, however he felt that we would be better off as a family. at least this way we can help each other and it would make a lot more sense. i just didn't want to buy it. it just seemed -- i like the idea of being a family, i didn't like being picked up and hauled off. we had several discussions on the subject. might have taken two or three weeks and we'd finally realize it was going to happen and it was pinned down as to when it was going to happen. i have just been pushing for that. i was going to go to russia. i mother -- i father never said

no, but he didn't say yes. the day before, we knew we were going to be picked up by tomorrow. the announcement i think was made that tomorrow, you will have to be home because they are going to come and take us. early that morning, i decided i'm going to go. i had decided i was going to just take off. very early that morning, i got up and left town and started to go to where i thought was going to be russia. my kid brother said he would come with me. i went out of town in the direction towards the russian troops i thought. for russia. as soon as i got up town gentile were used to know met me and told us that my father had paid him to take us in the right direction, at least part ways we wouldn't end up german territory. we went into the mountains and

hit out for several days. we had heard what had happened. we were running into because we met several of the people who ran away during the turmoil and the chaos when they pick people up. we ran into several other people in the mountains and we sort of worked up together. two days later, that my father and my brother. who also took off at the last minute. we hit out for about 2, 2 and half weeks. we were just hiding, kept on staying in touch with the local areas. someone used to sneak in a night to pick up whatever information we could get. at the end of two weeks the germans issued an order saying that anybody who was hiding, and

was part of the family, they had part of the family in custody and the ones who were missing if they didn't surrender within 48 hours, they're going to kill the ones they have. so that we had surrendered. >> it was your mother? adler: my mother and my brother and they took us to the ghetto and we were there in the ghetto. after several weeks, they had shipped people out, which turned out to be auschwitz. wendy: what -- >> what town was the ghetto in? adler: izza. >> what was it like there? adler: it was a small town, a

farming town really. it was very close to a big city -- a larger city. we were there more and barnes, we live several families in just a plain house we still live in because that was the kind of floors, that's where we lived. everyone's on top of each other no privacy, there was no room. it was like a barn. i imagine there were houses, but i do remember seeing houses. towards the end, as they shipped people out, they kept making the ghetto smaller. we were the last range about auschwitz. >> were the nazis doing things to people, killing people? adler: i didn't see any of that. they kept things pretty much hidden. i know they shot one person before we were shipped out because we used to hide -- the

women were busy sewing and baking and cooking, whatever. people were hiding money in gold. they dug out the heels of shoes and money was put in the lapels of your coats and seems, they were hiding money to take with us. some of those things i remember. >> tell us what happened when the day came and they shipped you off, tell us about the trip to auschwitz. adler: it was a sunny day. they will listen to these boxcars. was very crowded. you were locked in with almost no air, just one window, the door was slightly ajar. there were many people come i don't how many there were. there was barely room to sit. there was no room for anybody to stretch out.

in the meantime, all of us had all these dumb suitcases that we packed in baked clothing and food to take with us to our new home. which took up a lot of room. for bathroom facilities, we had a bucket, and that's it. a couple of people died in our boxcar going there. we were in that for 3.5 days and we traveled, we had no idea where were going. but we did end up at auschwitz. >> what were conditions like in the boxcar? adler: there was no problem. people were just all miserable. sort of like misery loves company. somebody is very sick, and some of you guys, ok. we were all not too far from it. -- somebody dies, ok. i don't ever being given any food except for the stuff we brought with us. >> what time did you get into

auschwitz? adler: i think it was early in the morning, maybe 10:00. i seem germany was nearly morning. it was like tennis. -- 10:00-ish. many people could see who were trying to get to the window to see as we were going by different areas. i.r. number when we pulled in, the boxcar in the train finally came to a stop. we stopped several times before that, but this looks like a final destination. the prisoners in auschwitz that i didn't know incidentally, that was auschwitz. the man who opened up our boxcar door did comment quickly to say tell the young people if they are 16 years old, they worked in a factory. he unlocked the car and went on. that was the comment i remember. as we got off, we were told the board the train.

one of my uncles had collapsed. he was a new man. he was very sick, he was just sitting there. i'm not sure whether he died that day or not. but we had to leave him. on the loudspeaker there were announcing to say men should go here, women with children under 16 years old go someplace else. i remember getting my brother saying go with mommy, see you later. we were lining up to go through the selection process. that was what was going on. >> you didn't know what was going to happen. adler: i have no idea. i thought, i remember i had to everyone thought we were going to go through get search. we were told to leave all belongings on the train. they told us you will get it later, just leave it there. separate men and women and small

kids to go someplace else. >> did they treat you brutally? adler: they were hitting people if you didn't go, if you didn't go where you are supposed to just to get you quickly off of the train into these lines they wanted to go to. that seems progress quite well. there was commotion, chaos. was a long train, there were quite a few people on the train. we were not the only town on the train. >> what happened to you? adler: i don't understand this to the state. we were going through the line and i was not first in line, needless to say i was in last either. they were people lining up and my experience as a kid i always used to tail my father wherever he went, i wanted to go where he

went. even when he didn't want me to sneak behind him. my father was right ahead of me. a cousin of mine who had a club foot who was limping was a little bit ahead of her. as he went through this line, i don't understand really. i've thought about it as to why we do this. when we came to the head of the line, he sent my cousin to the right, he sent my father to the right. and then begin to me and asked me how old i was. i told him i was 18 years old he said did you ever work in a factory, i said yes, three years, and he said go to the right. >> did he tell the others to go to the right also? told you to go in the same direction? adler: as he told me that, notice these people were lining up behind him on the left.

i just didn't pay any attention went right behind them, turn left and got line with those people. i didn't follow my father. >> any thought as to why? adler: no idea. the impression was these i -- these people were in their late teens, 19, 20. may be in their 30's. all the people who were lining up, i had friends world that i was. it was a split decision, it took all of one or two seconds. i didn't stop walking through the line, just kept on going. i just turned go where these people were. >> so your father? adler: i saw him go to the other side, i never said goodbye.

i just told him go with mommy, i will see you in a while. >> that was the last to sign. then what happened? adler: we were marched off and taken the barracks where we were lined up and they were shaving everybody. every hair on your body. ira member because when it came to me, i had just gotten a haircut. at that time we spent cut our hair, i had no here at all. the guy who was shaving me he couldn't find a hair on it. he said what the hell is this kid doing here? i didn't have a hair on my body. he was the prize, no pubic hair anything to shave. he seemed to have a problem with this. he passed me through. after the shaving women into the shower. we were told take our close off before he went in there. it was a shower and got new close afterward. like pajamas.

and then we were marched into this camp and that's when reality sort of hit. it was the first time i was ever on my own. totally. >> when was this? adler: june, 1944. i think it was june 14. not sure. i found myself in this huge camp. drewry and with no -- the clothing on my back. whatever i had was on my back, when they gave me the pajama uniform. with a million people. i was separated, that wasn't anybody there for my hometown. there were a couple of people, but this was a huge building. we were just being pushed around and shoved and i have finally

met a couple people for my hometown. but most of them come a lot of people are didn't know. we spent several days there. >> what was the day like? adler: the days were -- you hope you're going to be in their to get work. what i realized after being there, as happened if you hours afterwards. when i realized what was happening, i ended up in a building that was mostly kids. guys more my age. that didn't seem right to me for some reason. i ran away from their and they will let you go, you are in a cap compound, but you can go to the next building, there were several buildings there. i was looking for places where there were more adults. people were more working -- you

could see some people working. carrying stones and stuff like that. i mixed in with some of those. i was just going from place to place, for the better part of those weeks. i was trying to find myself someplace where i would end up with more adults. every time i ended up doing that, they were looking for details and for some reason they always threw me out. i was too small and the lapel used a march and be counted, i was standing half of the time honest stone to be taller. when we would march, five people locked in, i would ask the guys to lift me up so that i wouldn't be that much shorter. it worked pretty much. >> what was eating and sleeping

like? adler: we slept in the barracks where i was at. you stand out on the floor and you spread your legs and someone else was right next year, and that's how we set in a row. on top of each other. you does off as much as you could. but it was people to people. -- does it -- dozed off as much as you could. getting up was almost impossible. you had to disturb everybody if you had to go to the bathroom. these to come in at night and the barracks had a center, i don't know what you would call it, like a runway. i got used to walk with a whip and start hitting people. it seemed to happened every night. sometimes several times a night.

in this particular camp, there were a lot of gypsies. they were sort of the authority. they seem to be running the camp. collects with a hopeful or cruel -- >> were they helpful or cruel? adler: it was mixed. there were some that were more sympathetic. they weren't detrimental, even though there were some of them that were putting on a show, they have to beat you. the trick was to try and get some kind of work so you could go on a work detail. before these to give us some kind of a soup that was more like warm liquid of some sort. that's what ira member for food. for breakfast they used to give us a coffee though you see is, i

never drank coffee in my life before that. i used to use that to wash my face with, because it was warm. i don't remember any other thing that we got for breakfast. once in you'd see a small piece of bread. >> you ate very little? adler: very little. >> what about the toilet? adler: there was a building for that purpose, central building just as big as this place. they had umpteen one of the color -- -- what did they call it -- have you see -- wc. at that time i didn't have any idea what was going on. but he also knew it wasn't good. you didn't have time to think. you are trying to survive.

during that i finally met some people. i was running around these different buildings. i met somebody, people from my hometown. i met this one guy who had a brother. one fellow my age had a brother three years older. they were there. we would stick around together. we use to get beaten. where everyone, many times he it run into someone who would be -- wherever you went many times you would run into someone who would beat you. they had electric wire fences. you would think about touching them so we could die. somebody had done that before us. i saw the guy who did it just before. the guard was walking around

there and came in to kick the guy to see if he is dead. i told the other fellow, they beat you even after you're dead. that is the we decided not to commit suicide just to stick it out. we did. i remember seeing people going to work. i was on one of the labor details. it finally came around after a few weeks i was there. a work crew ended up being over 1000 people carrying rocks. at the end of the day, after several hours of work, they counted off a group of people for some reason -- first, before they started they picked people and put them inside. i was one of the ones counted out. they counted off later what i

learned was 1000 people. there were only a few of us left. they cornered off the people they had taken and put them -- and the sun was a hot day. they were sitting in the sun and waiting period we were being separated and were told to disperse. we were carrying water to these people because they were baking for water and the guards let us get water. i made several trips for these people. we found some open containers and gave them water to drink. these two fellows that i told you about, the fellow who was my age and the older brother -- the older brother was cornered off and we were not. the two brothers wanted to stay together. every time i hand them water, we made a couple of comments. i told him they would like to stay together. he said a would definitely like to get them together.

after making several trips with the water bottles, we had prearranged that next time we come in with the water, we will make it look like he needs water. he will stay with his brother and i will go out. the older brother came to save the younger one. when i made that final trip, he had changed sides to appear that he was giving me the water. and i left. >> whited you do that? adler: they want to stay together and i wanted to get out of there. i assume that they are going to go someplace as a workforce. after that, in our so later -- an houror rosor so later, we

ended up going to germany. we went to a place, it was a camp in dock out --dachau. we had to walk between the railroad tracks. it was like two hilly areas. i thought they were taking us to be shot. that was the first thing i thought. they marched us through this camp and that's where i ended up being stationed for several months. >> tell us about that. adler: this was a camp where life was sort of normal to some extent. we had a field and they put card or dots -- cardboard huts. in the rainstorms, they would bend.

we slept on the floor and if it rained, water came in. we put dirt around it a little bit. we were getting food. a regular ration certainly was not normal. most of the food with soup, very seldom was there me in it. once in a while we got a little piece read -- piece of red. -- bread. we did not get liverwurst. we did construction on buildings. i remember they build a factory. our job was to -- what you call it -- not soil, but we were putting sod on top of it. we had to carry, physically sod and put it in the area so it did not look like a building. it looks like a hill. >> did you have trouble doing

that? adler: no. i was doing it. i was small. i remember the camp commander had complained bitterly when he looked the next morning he came into camp. he said all these kids are transporting this. several youngsters. we worked long hours. we were doing all kinds of stuff. there was some food. there were beatings on and off but if you did a good job, there was not too much beating. >> was there someone who assaulted you? adler: there was another guy who beat me every time i saw him. i stayed away. there was another guy who helped me. this camp, we were true laborers. because of the fact that i spoke

, i was able to understand german. in this camp are about 2200 of us. in excess of 2000 were hungarian jews. they were very idealistic. these people did not speak any jewish. we were outcasts to them. there were about 100 of us, assorted nationalities, all jews, but from all different countries. some polles, -- poles stragglers here and there. our several cases where we went to a farmer to accept than -- to pick something up. we were able to communicate a little better. there was an austrian not in the army. i forget what they were called. the work details, in charge. he was an engineer. he was ahead of all the

projects. he did a lot of things for me that were very helpful. he used to go to his kitchen at lunchtime. we would go for one place and the germans would go somewhere else. he would get seconds. he would take two bites and say wash my plates. we could eat the food. it was wonderful. rain sun, it did not make a difference. another thing that made an impression on me at the time, we became religious. not to the extent that we were religious, but we had services. we had services every morning and night for people to come in contact. a german came by and you shut up, but you are praying by

memory. we did that quite a bit. >> what helped? adler: i guess it helped. we were existing day-to-day. there were people that gave up. there were suicides. that used to hang themselves. that was one of the most dangerous places to go to because people were falling. i remember we used to look forward to the day when the bombing started. i called it the bombing now which i did not know at the time, but at 10:30 the planes would go over and we used to get a break from work. i love those times. they let us stop work. i was one of the fellows -- when

munich was first bombed, they destroyed a railroad station. i was taken there, one of the guys went to work to try to put the train station back to some sort of work order. that is where we had to go on the train a long time and come back. during that. 's -- during that period we worked long hours. the train from there to munich took a long time. i remember laying railroad tracks. laying railroad tracks in the wintertime with no gloves. your hands used to stick to the tracks. you had to shake it to get it off, it was so cold. people used to haul things. you had to all things.

they would with you like a horse, -- whip you like ahorse. pull pull, pull. i had some jobs that were helpful. i used to clean out offices. that gave me benefit because in trash cans i used to find cigarette nuts. -- butts. that was like gold. it was more viable than diamonds. for every butt you could get you would get something in return. people would trade things away. those things were helpful. they had to be very cold because we had the same clothing. it was just like a shirt and a pair of jama pants. -- pajama pants. what i did in the winter was we

emptied bags of cement and put them in our clothing. frozen off my toenail. the toe on one of my feet was frozen. the bottoms of my feet were frozen. i have had problems with that. i remember being extremely cold and the work conditions were atrocious. >> how long did that last? adler: that lasted pretty much until the end. it lasted until i came there in august through december. i remember christmas eve being moved from that camp to a new cap. that was where my troubles were. life was sort of normal from august to december in this cap.

you worked long hours but it was -- in this camp. you worked long hours but it was normal to then we were -- you worked long hours but it was normal. then we were going to the other camp. i remember seeing people declared not fit to work and they took them away. one doctor said he was going to go volunteer for that. we are telling him that this is not the thing to do. his comment was he could not take it. he was a big fellow. he had volunteered. he wanted to go on one of those transfer arts. -- those transports. when they started to take us on train projects to work people easy jump in front of the train. when the train was coming into the station, he would jump in front of it. >> what happened when you got to

the other camp? adler: it was very cold. we marched all night. we came there and there was no place to stay. we had to build a makeshift building. i was starting to deteriorate. soon afterwards there were a lot of people that got very sick. that would have been in january or february. people were getting sicker and sicker. there was one building put up. we moved to another camp because it was terrible. it seems like the whole camp was sick. >> where were they sick? adler: i did not know at the time but they had typhoid fever. >> what did you observe? adler: they could not move.

they were just terrible. there was a period there, and i don't remember how came about but i was thrown into one of the buildings with these very sick people. that is how it started. that is what i did. the people slept on, it was not a bed, but a platform. next to each other, you slept in roads. in the morning you would pick up the dead bodies and haul them off. after a while i was put in one of those buildings to stay. i was down -- >> where you sick yourself? adler: i was starting to have some sickness, but -- i develop typhoid fever when i was there. i was still working. some people could not do anyt hing.

>> what did you weigh at that point? adler: i don't know, but when i was little i was about 30 kilograms, which about 64 pounds. i had shorts on my backside. it was the most painful thing i did try. we were being pulled back. as march and april came we were being consolidated, pulled back which i did not know for what reason or where. then at the end of april we were being taken by train. we've gone together in an area

and being loaded on trains. >> you are no longer in dachau? adler: right. people were turning back to be going to dachau. it was april 7 and we finally got on the train. we pulled into the train station where we parked. the train was all open boxcars. next was was a antiaircraft gun train. the planes came over, looked at us and sought, opened fire, and took off. as they took off the antiaircraft opened fire and they shut down several planes. >> and the antiaircraft was -- adler: right behind us. i would imagine they could see them from the air because you

cannot hide in open train station. the planes stayed in the back all day long and bombed the hell out of us. during that period, when the shooting stopped people got out of the boxcars and climbing over and germans were disappearing. this was april 27. we were roaming around and we had not eaten. i saw a lot of bread on the german train. i climbed under my train and up to the german and asked them to please give me some bread. he started to hand me to loa ves of bread. when he did that one of my guards put the butt of his

rifle to my head and pushed me across and told the soldier not to give to me. as soon as he did that, another prisoner to the same thing i did. he ran for the bread and the guard shot him on the spot. killed him right there. he did not say one word to him. as that day went on, we were liberated because we looked around and there were no germans left. we got into the woods and it seemed to quiet down. the germans rounded us up again it took us to dachau. the new prison guards that were there, the rifles were bigger than they were. they were little kids. during the chaos, i saw the train with food and i took what

i could. we had very loose uniforms and i would stuff it with food. they missed a package of butter that i noticed later because i felt that sticking to my body and it started to melt. when no one was looking i put my hand in my shirt and broke off a piece of butter. after that, i became deathly sick. it was terrible. it was an absolute disaster. i was waiting to die. i remember in dachau because i was lying in the barracks and the company came and told me and

told me it won't be long now. i said i do not have long on april 29 we were liberated. >> can you tell us about the liberation, what you saw that? adler: as i tell you, i was very sick. i did not get out of bed. i heard commotion and did not pay much attention. i saw little of it. when they came in and they saw what was going on -- i was close to the gate. i was taken by military personnel to a military hospital. american soldiers. american doctors were treating me. >> how did they react when they saw you? adler: they seemed to be disturbed. around me you can see these corpses, or people who looks like corpses.

there were quite a few people who died after liberation from dehydration. my first food i recall was like charcoal. it tasted like ground up charcoal. in the camp, some people were eating grass. i tried that. the dirty grass was terrible. i said i would just as soon die as he did again. i did not do that. i used to go behind the kitchen and dig through the rubbish because potato feelings were a great food. anything the kitchen throughout -- potato peelings were a great food. anything the kitchen threw out. kitchen detail was good. if they knew you fished through

the garbage, occasionally they would give you a warm liquid. it was basically potato soup, kind of. more soup than potato. they treated me quite well. i remember more of a reaction when a german nurse came in to see me. it was someplace in the dachau area, a hospital. i was being treated. i remember when this german woman came in. she was very young and when she saw me, she collapsed. she fainted. i remember having a discussion with somebody because they claimed they did not know what was going on. my question was how can you not know what is going on there when you see, day after day, trains coming in and then going back to

empty? over months and years you had millions of people there. something had to be going on. i was also told afterwards that i was supposed to go to dachau and that we were being taken there to be killed. we did not make it. we were delayed. they got everyone together at the end of the war. i was liberated april 29 and the war was over a few days later, may 8. i stayed in the hospital for several months. >> when you transferred from auschwitz to dachau, your family not with you, what did you think had happened to them? when did you realize that you are alone, without them? adler: i really did not know until after the war that they

are probably dead. >> you got out of auschwitz what you think? adler: at that time, all i want to do -- when i was in auschwitz i just wanted to get out. the people in the prison say we are being taken to a labor camp were going to work. that is what we were trying to -- again, we were are being taken. it was cold. i remember we were moving constantly from vienna. somebody recognized it was vienna we were moving through. we were just trying to survive really. we did not think too much. i assumed it that time they were just in a different camp, that they were also someplace working. there was no question in my

mind. i had no idea that they were dead or were about to be dead. i think i assumed and most people assumed they were in another camp heard were told of a lot of camps -- can't. we were told of a lot of camps. >> when you are in dachau -- when you were in dachau, how long were you there? adler: a few months. i must have been there at least two months because they took us on trucks to czechoslovakia, to prague. i had to go out steps and i had trouble walking the steps. my legs hurt. it was very difficult. i had gained back some strength by that time already.

you spend a few days there. we used to ride the trains because we did not bother with tickets. it was a free for all. trains were moving or they did not move. they would stop for two days sometimes rate of -- sometimes. i used to look up and go back to my hometown. the best way to travel was to hook up with a russian military train going in the vicinity. it's a a a long time to get home -- it took me a long time to get home. i was trying to go back to my own town. guys were more able physically -- rumor mills, and you can go here, did you see so-and-so

what did you know? we were going back. after several weeks -- it was a very tedious and long trip. you are moving. the train could stop for no reason and stay there. the next train could be separating from train to train. >> how about the people in the countryside? how do they treat you? adler: most of them sort of ignored us. there were some people -- they were not hostile, but i certainly would not say friendly. the most memorable thing i remember from that whole journey is when i finally got into my hometown and this took several weeks because i had stopped in bigger cities. when i finally decided to get into my own town, i will never forget getting off a bus and there were three of us they got off the bus.

there was a gentle kid standing on the corner. i heard the comment, look, there are three more jews hitler did not kill. period you got back -- >> you got back to your hometown. what did you see when you got there? adler: everything was pretty much the way we left it. nothing was destroyed, really. many yards were overgrown. in our house was a caretaker that used to help us in the shop and put wood on the fire. caretaker was living in it. the town was deserted heard -- deserted. the entire population was gone. most of them did not come back.

>> was it a jewish town? adler: no, but there were a lot of jews in there. it was probably more gentile but there were a lot of jews in there. >> what about your home? adler: people were nice to me and put me out. they did what they could for me -- put me up. they did what they could for me. i would not say they resented that i came back. i just did not feel comfortable there. our neighbor, a friend of the family, wanted to buy the house. >> were you able to find out anything about the state of your family? adler: not there. i had already found out pieces that did not look all missing. it took me several weeks of talking to other people. >> prague? adler: not progress much but it was a several week journey. when i came back, there were

people in a bigger town that was like a jewish community. i went there and learned already who came back and did not. i was one of those. i was one of the later ones to come back. plus, many people were liberated earlier. some camps were liberated as early as january of the five. went home already. -- january of 1945. went home already. it seems to me that i have cousins. i have heard of some cousins saw a couple. no immediate family, answer uncles, nobody. the parents -- aunts or

uncles, nobody. no parents. you have your fingal cross -- fingers crossed. there was something they gravitated to. we were moving by the seat of your pants. if it was a hungarian, you threw them off the train. i saw people get thrown off the trains, conductors bugging us for tickets. >> when you got home, you are telling us that someone wanted to buyer house. -- by your house. adler: right. you wanted to buy but i did not want to sell. i hoped someone survived. i did not want money from it. it did not feel right for me to take money from it.

i said he had my permission to stay in the house as long as he wants or if any other member of my family comes back, they can decide to do whatever they want. he asked me to give that to him in writing and i did it i signed a piece of paper that someone wrote up for him that gives him full possession of this property that we had. we had other property, but the house and he could stay there. there was one stipulation. if any of the -- any other member of my family can avoid that. -- void that. very next day i left town. >> just with sandwiches. adler: that was it. never saw it again. i am not sure that i have the desire to. >> then you went on? adler: we were told that people were gathering. everyone seems to be gravitating

there. i went to romania. that was another week to get there. there were all kinds of refugees there. mostly young people, older than i. >> you are about 16? adler: i was about 16 at the time. they were mingling. what town are you from? do you know so-and-so? who did you see? after being there for -- i don't know how many days i was there -- i learned nothing. that is when i went back to czechoslovakia, but not my home area. i'll tell you what else happened. i ran into one of my older cousins. he had survived with his sister. he said, where are you going? i don't know where i'm going. he said, we don't know, there.

what are you come with us? we will go. he was older so i ended up going with him. it made sense to stick together. that was in 1946 or 1947 they ended up leaving and going to germany. i tell you, i was not unique. i'm not sure exactly how i felt when i felt. there are times still. i am not sure to what level i decided everyone is gone. there are still times when i hope. maybe. everyone was in the same boat you are no different. -- same boat.

you are no different. after doing searching, and i feel bad about it today, but i hope i would run into one of my brothers. i used to play myself -- blame myself. >> you blamed yourself? adler: yeah. these two -- i used to carry around my brother. he wanted to go with me and i said no, you are too young, go with mommy. i felt that if he had come with

me, maybe i could have pulled him through. that was the guilt i had. that was after the war. i thought about that many a time. i used to have nightmares, things like that. i don't know i described it. several months, they be a year or two -- maybe a year or two to. we settled in a town. it was easy to get quarters because there were a lot of germans that were deported or had left. we moved into a nice residence

from a former german. you lived there free. they finally decided that we were going to leave. go back to germany to try to go to israel. it was very difficult to do. i was on several transports going. after trying and trying, the same colors and -- the same cousin of mine said stick together. we will see what happens. then i had a chance to come to this country. i wanted to go to israel in the worst way. my cousin -- my cousin told me on several

occasions that we should go together but when it was so difficult to go to israel, he said it looks like our opportunity came to come to america. i did not want to go and he convinced me. he said, don't be a fool. go to america. get an education. israel can use you more with some education than they can today. there are enough people like you. we do not need anymore. it was called the u.s. children's committee. it was an organization called the u.s. children's committee. it was sponsored, i was told, by eleanor roosevelt. at that time, if you are under 18 and had no immediate family in europe or america, they would bring you here. i lived in a children's home for a while. this is 1947, i think. the end of 1947 october

papers cleared and i came to this country on the 10th of november, 1947. >> where did you go? adler: they took us off the boat into a hotel. it was very interesting to i was there no more than half an hour -- interesting. i was there no more than half an hour zone was paging me. it can't be. i don't know anyone in new york. how can this be? someone said this is for meyer adler. i went to the phone and it was a second cousin who lived in america. they saw in the newspaper the

list of names of people coming. they saw that and came to see me. the whole point was for people to sponsor us to get us out of new york. they are trying to encourage you to go anyplace but stay in new york. i had a friend of mine who came before me who ended up settling in cleveland. somebody suggested towns. anyplace. i knew nothing about america. absolutely nothing. i said cleveland is a good place to go to. the interesting thing for me was i was going to cleveland and somebody met us from the family service -- what was it called, jewish family with children organization. i was going on the train to cleveland. that was about all i knew where i was going to. i arrived in cleveland and they put us in an orphanage.

the orphanage had problems with us because most of us were about 18, 19 thereabouts, and we were all very old people and they were trying to -- it was an orphanage with kids mostly under 15 or 16. it did not go over too well. they were trying to find homes for us. some people had family they could go and live with. i was one of the last ones out of their. >> did the family take you on? adler: finally, one of my teachers had requested i come live with him. that is what i ended up doing. i lived with him for a while. >> what has happened to you? what has happened to you since that time? adler: first, the class i

attended, the teacher was teaching the class at temple. it was for people like myself who spoke very little english who were being taught english and whatever else could be taught. there were all boys and girls my age. it was a relatively small group. they were going here and living in the orphanage. that was november. it was after several months. i finally moved out of their and i want to get a job. my teacher talked me into public school. i had a problem because my english was far from what they wanted.

they gave me some tests and they said they would be in seventh grade. i said, forget it. they gave me further testing and took me into high school, 10th grade. if i could cut it i could stay there. if i didn't, it would kick me out. that is fine. other subjects i could qualify on. english is the problem. i went to high school. i went in a year and a half plus a summer school and finished high school. they were very nice to me because they helped with english and i had to take a celebrated horses. i was very good at math -- i had to take accelerated courses. i was very good at math. teachers would give homework and trigonometry and tell me to come

after class because i did not know what was going on. every now and again you fell down. i had to go on with life. there were people that felt sorry for themselves and i worked with those people and never saw any sense for it. nobody owes you anything. you can't blame people. there are people now that when people for what happened to them -- that blame people for what happened to them. i have done financially ok. i have a good family, a couple of sons and a wife. they seem to be self-sufficient. everyone seems to be ok. i don't think i have anything, you know, to feel bad about. i did go through period0s that i

remember early, after i had been in the country for some time. people came to me. people were applying for, i don't remember what year it was but they were applying to germany. germany was paying people restitution. i did not want any part of that. i still don't know why. i felt at the time and i still really feel that i did not want to get paid for it. whatever happened, happened. i would not want it to happen again but i sure would not want to get paid for it. it would sort of make it -- it is like buying a piece of paper. i'm not holding anyone responsible but getting paid for it did not seem right. that was one of the problems. >> that is a good point.

we will stop there unless there is something us you want to tell us. adler: nothing really. >> there was one other area. you were in the army in germany? adler: first of all, let me backtrack a little bit. there is a point i remember, for example. i was with people in the camp. people are being killed. i kid about this because i was with people -- if you you are going to get killed, you see their shooting people, so don't go there. i remember going to a place where there were killing people and you could see it. i told guys, don't be still be -- don't be stupid. they said, what are you going to do? i said, let them shoot you here. i could not get a want to follow

me. i walked away and i survived. he see a guy shoot you 50 yards from where you are, try not to go there. i had a problem convincing a lot of the to do that. you had to do it one at a time. i just got up and walked away. nobody stopped me. if someone had seen me, i would have been shot. hell i was going to get shot anyhow. it is interesting how people are. when i finished high school -- first of all, the same teacher who worked very hard with me, who was taking me, helping me, had wanted me to going to college. it was very difficult. six months before graduation of high school i wanted to quit because was very difficult. i was working part-time

studying a lot, doing a celebrated courses, doing extra courses -- doing excel are rated -- accelerated courses, extra courses so i could graduate sooner. friends who were in the same boat as i did not go to score making good money. here i had no money and working hard to i was different. prior to that, i planned to college. but with the teacher, for her sake i planned to finish high school. i could not get a job at all. i had of getting a job for a company that i hated from day one. i was not going to stay, it was just temporary. that was 1950.

while i was there the korean war broke out. i said i might as will stay before get drafted. i ended up going in the army. i did not want to go, but i ended up in the army. while the army was in war and they shipped everyone to korea. i applied to the intelligence service because of my languages. i was excepted and shipped off to germany. the whole battalion i trained with, most of them wanted to go to the intelligence training in new jersey to go to germany. in new jersey they only take two of us and i was one of the two shipped to germany. >> how did it feel going to germany? adler: i did not particularly

want to go to korea, so it did not bother me. some of the things i had to do for ultimately a little more difficult. when i got in, this was a good job. when i got back to germany for the first six months, i was in seventh army headquarters and they did not need me. i had nothing to do. i used to go on payday and ask if i was on the payroll survey to we were exempt from duties -- payroll list. we were exempt from duties. >> i understand that you ended up in intelligence. talk about that. were you talking to germans? adler: part of the job was we finally got an assignment it was to -- assignment.

it was to deal with germans. i was at a place for the -- where the army rented a huge house. we were gathering intelligence on the russians. it must have been 19 to that we decided we needed to have the best year because east germany had formed their own army. the united states decided we wanted one of those. my job was to go and select officers for the army. talking to people -- i had done a lot of things with germans. i had a good job because i could

pass as a german. i spoke fluent german at the time. there were all kinds of things i did for the army. i had a good life. the lives -- i lived in the late service. no army crap of any kind. i had to go out and dig up officers who on paper were supposed to be wehrmacht not nazis, and determine who you could trust. i remember writing and report saying i had a problem. if i had a german army for my allies behind me, or had the russians in front of me, my enemies, i'm not sure what to

attack first. >> did you find any nazi background? adler: yeah, there was a lot of it but not all of them were nazi. i helped socialize a lot of germans, too. a fellow who had my job before me did not succeed and he was a seasoned officer. only because he did not know how to -- it was important to do what i did to do what i did -- what i did. to do what i did, you have to get a long with them. i did what i had to do. i did not do anything to hurt anybody to the extent that i do not want to talk about it. it was an interesting part of education for me. it was a good experience.

i was comfortable with what i did rid it was difficult to do it -- what i did. it was difficult to do sometimes. at times it was very difficult. i enjoyed the freedom. as lies i can do what i can do and not have restrictions, i can do a good job. i don't like to follow rules. >> is a good thing you did not follow rules. you would not be here today. thank you very much. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2015] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] >> you're watching american history tv. follow us on twitter at c-span history for information on our schedule of upcoming programs keep up with the latest history news. history bookshelf features popular american history

writers. author dennis smith discusses the earthquake and fires that ravaged san francisco in 1906. smith examines how several factors contributed to the magnitude of the fires including leadership failures and mismanagement of resources. this is about an hour. >> i would like to thank you for coming to book passage for the reading of dennis smith's "san francisco is burning." he will talk to you about that today. i want to give a background about dennis and have a few words. this coming april marks the 100-year anniversary of the san francisco earthquake which was an event, though fairly recently, was arguably the worst national disaster in

american history. what is often overlooked by those unfamiliar with the history of the earthquake, which was the earthquake itself, registry around and eight on the richter scale, played less of a role in the catastrophe. fire was the culprit of much of the devastation that came afterwards. in the wake of recent events it seems particularly troubling to look to the 1906 quake four lessons. especially the social and psychological consequences to tell you about dennis, he is a former new york city firefighter, now one of the leading historians on the subject of firefighting he is the founding editor of "firehouse magazine." is the best-selling author of 11 books.

dennis is currently the chairman of the first responders foundation and lives in new york city. let's give dennis a warm welcome. [applause] dennis: ok, if i can put this on. i think that is ok. my notes are interesting because, as you know, we began communications as human beings by writing -- by drawing paintings on the wall in europe. then we developed language and words. now we are back to pictures again. i can deliver a story from 1906 without words at all. i have sure of -- i have picture after picture and it gives you a

good idea of where i am. on the morning of april 18, 1906, at five of -- at 5:12 the earth began to rumble. we estimate it was about an 8.2 on the richter scale. there was no richter scale in that day. there was something called the rossi-ferrer scale. it judged earthquakes by the damage it did. they found that much of the damage in earthquakes were caused by fire and collapses not just due to the earthquake. then they developed the richter scale, which was satisfactory, a

little better. and in today's world, they use something called the mm scale, the momentary magnitude scale, which more accurately measures earthquakes, particularly above the 8.0 level. these are important distinctions because earthquakes are important to all of our futures and the more we understand them them the better we'll -- thanks. the more we understand the better we'll all be. i think -- i think that maybe -- yeah, that will be fine, thank you very much. on that morning when the earth shook, it shook for about 45 seconds. and in that 45 seconds, it caused terrific amount of damage. it broke the water pipes all over san francisco, first of all