Bernard & Emery Klein - May 23, 1984
Recounting
Have you discussed it with your wife who also went through it?
B: Yeah, sure.
Emery, what about you? Have you told your children about...
E: My children are a little younger, yet, and whenever the occasion arises or opportunity is there, I, I tell them by bits and pieces, and I'm sure that they will want to know much more about it as they become a little bit more, they become a little more mature and older. I have no qualms or reluctance to talk about it. I feel it's important that people...for people to know and learn...what can happen, and uh, maybe that's why uh, I'm trying with my everyday life and everything I do to make sure it's my involvement directly or indirectly to make sure that our kids have a more secure future, that there cannot be a repetition of this horrible tragedy.
Had either of you ever discussed it with your father after you came to the United States?
B: Well, we obviously talked about it, but uh, I can't recall any, any specific discussion. It was specially during the earlier...after we were liberated, it was a subject. It wasn't even today, we, we even joke about it, that whenever we need some of the old friends, okay, sooner or later the discussion goes back to 1940, 1941. We always wind up talking about the war years, about our suffering, and the difference between our lives then and now, and most everybody winds up being grateful for having the opportunity to survive to begin with, and having the opportunity to come to a free country like the United States, and be able to raise a new family, and go on, and as Emery said, hoping that whatever we can contribute to making sure that it will never happen again.
Do you have anything you want to add? Other remarks?
B: It's amazing, break down at the end.
E: No, we are just very thankful for being able to be here and tell the story, which really, we just very fortunate, and like Bernie says, that after all this to come out, not only physically, but mentally okay and, and lead a normal life and being fortunate, both having very fine families and lucky for both of us, our families are very, very close, and again, like our father was, we are not only brothers, we also partners in business and are glad to be here.
All right, we'll stop at that. Thank you for the time, the movie and pictures.
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