On April 21, 2012, Ben Fainer (Bendet Urman Fajner) told me the story of how he survived six years in several Nazi concentration camps, from 1939 (when he was 9 1/2 years old) until he was rescued by American soldiers in 1945. He spent most of a year in a camp in Jelesnia, Poland, before being moved to Blahame and then to Buchenwald. While in these camps, he had no name. He was known as "1778873." Ben, who was 81 when he agreed to give this interview, had refused to discuss these horrors until four years ago.

As you can see from this interview, Ben doesn't merely recount the horrors; he also offers many insights into his experience.

You'll notice that Ben has somewhat of an Irish accent. After being released from Buchenwald, he spent several years in Dublin, Ireland, before moving to Canada, and then the United States.

What follows is a simple listing of the topics discussed:

00:26 Living in Bedzin, Poland
06:05 Jelesnia - Forced Labor Camp
09:31 Taken to a different camp: Blahame
12:45 Lying about his age
23:48 Buchenwald Conditions
30:31 More on Buchenwald
33:00 Every day is a new day. "Maybe I can survive tomorrow."
36:44 No doctors; no treatment
37:25 Discussion of hatred.
45:47 After Buchenwald
47:08 Walk to Dachau (Death March)
47:49 Rescue by American Soldiers
50:27 Many prisoners died from eating too quickly after their release
51:18 No paperwork. Trying to find other members of his family.
54:35 Only 7 out of 250 relatives survived WWII
56:01 Traveling to Dublin
58:20 Refused entry to the United States because he was a "communist."
1:01:28 Bar Mitzvah at 74 years of age
1:02:52 Surprise phone call from one of his rescuers
1:04:51 More on his long period of silence, and trying to make sense of his time in concentration camps.