Ben Lesser and Origins of the Holocaust

Ben Lesser was born in Krakow, Poland in 1928
Lesser spent summers in Moonot, now Hungary
His father, Lazar Lesser, owned a chocolate and wine/fruit syrup factory, producing animal-shaped chocolate wafer cookies similar to KitKats
Lesser's mother, Shishi Segal Lesser, described as sweet, educated, and well-dressed
Lesser's early life felt safe until Nazi tanks entered his hometown, leading to the Holocaust

The Holocaust involved the deaths of millions of Jews and others targeted by Nazi Germany
Anne Frank's diary and Elie Wiesel's "Night" are famous accounts of the Holocaust
Auschwitz-Birkenau: the largest concentration camp where 1.1 million people were murdered
Ben Lesser survived Auschwitz, a death march, and a death train

After the war, race, authority, and loyalty were contemplated in Nazi Germany
Most Germans vaguely knew the goals of the Holocaust, but the majority did not endorse the mass murder of Jews
Intimidation was used to enforce Nazi social and cultural norms
Discontent with the existing social order and charismatic Nazi leadership contributed to German complicity in the regime

The Nazi anti-semitic campaign began gradually, starting with burning Jewish books and synagogues, then people
The world remained largely silent as these atrocities unfolded
Many believe more intervention could have saved lives
In September, when Nazis reached Lesser's hometown in Poland, soliders held rifles every few feet.

Many Germans supported the idea that Jews were a source of racial pollution in Germany
Jews were excluded from social groups, harassed in schools, and lost businesses and homes
Reduced business competition benefited Germans financially during this time

When Nazis invaded Poland, they pistol-whipped Lesser and his family, ransacking their home
Lesser witnessed Nazis murdering a baby and showed ruthlessness and terror
Curfews were enacted for Jews
Resources were strained
Jews who disobeyed rules were shot
Jews were displaced to the Krakow ghetto
Lesser's family left the city to avoid certain death in the Krakow ghetto: where 15,000 Jews were packed into an area that previously contained 3,000 people
The family was ordered to surrender their Jewish books, and their money was hidden inside

The family lived in one room of a small house
Lesser's father earned money by making pretzels
Ben stayed there for 2 years
His siblings Moa and Lola married and moved out
In 1943, they learned of an upcoming Nazi pogrom
The family arranged transportation in a coal truck to Bnia
Mahil arranged escape in an apartment in the Bnia ghetto, a city notorious for anti-jewish brutality
They moved in a single room with eight strangers

The family was told to hide during another pogrom
They hid behind a secret back panel of an armoire
They went undiscovered
The next morning, survivors saw dead bodies in the streets
They moved into an apartment outside of the ban ghetto and hid with Hungarian citizenship cards
Lola's husband arranged for the family to escape to Hungary by bribing a coal truck driver to add a false bottom to his truck
Lola and Mel tested the system
Because they were a family of seven, the children would go first with his parents to follow
Lesser hid under the chassis of a double-decker coal truck with his 7-year-old brother and eight others
Nazi soldiers were hitchhiking over the top of the truck without knowing Lesser and the others
Ben and Tuli made it to Moonot where they reunited with their Uncle Hershel
After months fo waiting, they learned that their parents and older brother had died

In 1944, Nazis invaded Hungary, Lesser was shoved into a cattle car and sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau
For 3 days, Ben and others subjected to inhumane horrors
Ben, his uncle, and his cousin were sent to work
His aunt, sister Goldie, and his brother Tuli were sent to the gas chambers
He lied to the doctor about his age
The doctor was Dr. Joseph Mangay

Murders were carried out through mass shootings and poison gas
Others died from abuse, exhaustion, and medical experiments
Food included bread made with sawdust and fake coffee
They had clothes, wooden clogs and given a wooden disc inscribed with the number 1212
Some food contained rats or pieces of shoe leather
Jews who tired to escape were unable to due to a lack of money
Lesser was made to work in forced labor
Starvation was widespread
He was eaten up by bed bugs
He only had hope
He saw murderous dogs, whips and screams

Inmates dumped tons of human ashes
There were fire pits where bodies (sometimes still alive) were dumped and incinerated
Three inmates escaped while laborers were working in a quarry
To deter future escapes, prisoners were punished harshly
After work, inmates lined up in rows of five, and were counted repeatedly
Prisoners could barely stand
Every 10th person in line was to receive lashes
Lesser switched places with his uncle
The men were to have their bodies arched over the saw horse without touching it
If they messed up, they had to start from one again
Three men were beaten mercilessly
The guard shot the helpless man after he collapsed
At 15 years old, Lesser was beaten with 25 brutal lashes
An inmate told him to thank the guard, which he did, but seemed as though no one expected someone to survive the beatings
30 minutes after the beatings, the escapees were caught and hung

Ben and his cousin Isaac were transported in dirty cattle cars with Jewish prisoners
The train went from Binval to doow
He led his cousin to the back of the car to support themselves against the wall
Stabbing pain in the chin
He was stabbed getting bread and bandaged in the trip
The wound did not get infectd
There was no water
They rationed the food so they could survive
People died from canabalism

Ben and Issac arrived at the doow concentration camp
The entered the camp
The only reason lesser and his cousin were not immediately incinerated was due to a coal shortage
Ben was freed when americans liberated and kissed his boots

Ben and Lola were the only survivors out his family of seven
After his liberation, Ben collapsed into a priest's arm
Priests recommended for Ben to remember be proud of his religeon
Those words from a Catholic priest changed his views of Gentiles
Every religeous group has righteous people
Ben was 65 lbs
Ben was handed spam
Ben and his cousin came down with dissentry and his cousin died
They would be reunited with family, and Ben held him
When they were both young, they had a sense of identity
Ben's coma lasted over 2 months and he was nursed back to health at a monastery in April 1945
He woke up in Bavaria, Germany
Moche and Ben became friends, and he learned he had a sister alive
Lole was pragnant
He sought his friend in the US
In 1947, he moved his sister Lola, and together went out his way
Ben moved to Brooklyn, New York
Ben moved to Loss Angeles, California
Ben built a real estate career and retired in 1995
Ben had families named Sherry and Gail
He wrote a book called living a life that matters from Nazi nightmare to the American dream lesser
He was awarded from the Federal Republic of Germany