Voice/Vision Holocaust Survivor Oral History Archive

Adele Sandel - [n.d.]

Conclusion

But you know that uh, I'm sure you know that it has come into somebody's mind, you know, we have Neo-Nazi organizations.

Yes, mm-hm.

...and we have people walking in Detroit and that's one of the reasons--there is two ways to fight a future Holocaust or to prevent a future Holocaust. One is through an educational uh, way in which we are involved and now gathering information from people like you to educate people in the schools to let them know about the kinds of experiences you related and let them know how all these terrible things that have happened so that it should never happen again. And, of course, there is the more active way to prevent a future Holocaust. And, for example, like the JDL and people like that actually getting armed with weapons, things like that. By the way, what are your feelings about the JDL? About people who want to prevent a future Holocaust by arming themselves and training themselves in weapons? Do you think they are a bunch of radicals? What do you think about them?

With radicals I don't think, I don't even want to think about it. I don't even want to talk about it that something like this should come up again. I don't know. I--maybe we shouldn't put this on the tape because I have a little feeling that if you bring this into the books in the schools you open the eyes of those children. Maybe it's not even so good. Maybe some of them have this Nazi blood in themselves and they, they will think to themselves look, let's do it again.

Mm-hm. Well, I'll tell you from the initial uh, results that we find is that many people are not even aware of the Holocaust. Many children nowadays are not even aware of the Holocaust...

So, why tell them?

The reason why you should tell them is because once you tell them they become aware of it. Then, they are prepared for it and they don't want anything to do with it and they never want to see something like this happen.

You mean the Jewish children?

No, I'm talking about Gentiles, too. Most of the people that are not familiar with it if we get to them before the Nazi's do, if we tell them how horrible this is before the Nazi's get to them or before whoever gets to them it usually has a more positive effect. There might be a few extremists that might bring something into their mind, like you said, but, in general, it has been proven a much better idea to let people know about it. Let them know how terrible it is and that will take care of itself. They won't want any--they'll, they'll even fight never to have such a thing. So, in general, it is a very good idea. Um, how did you uh, spell your name before World War II?

D-e-u-t-s-c-h. Deutsch.

Okay, and your first name?

Helen Adele--Adele Helen, My middle name is Helen. Adele is my name.

Adele Helen. Okay. And, do you know what your citizenship number is, by any chance?

No, but I can get it. You want me to?

Is it ready at hand?

If it very important?

Well, is it ready at hand? Would it take a lot--is it--do you know exactly where it is?

Some place in the files.

Oh, okay. Well, that's all right. And uh, also do you have uh, any referrals? Any people that you might think would like to relate this information uh, the same way you did--who would be willing to be interviewed uh, to gather this information?

Who would like to be?

Or who would be willing to? First, do you think your husband would be willing to?

Yeah.

Okay.

But my English is poor and his, his is much poorer yet.

Uh-huh.

Do you have somebody who would uh, his, his, his German is beautiful. He speaks beautiful German or Slovak.

We'll see what we can do. Your husband's name is Mandel?

No, Marcel.

Marcel, excuse me.

Yeah.

Okay. Marcel and that's Sanders?

Sandel. S-a-n-d-e-l.

Okay, Marcel Sandel.

Yeah

And he uh, speaks German better than he does English?

Oh, yes.

Okay.

Much better. My only excuse for, for this is that I speak, write and uh, read four other languages.

Uh-huh. What languages are those?

Hungarian and Slovak and German...

Uh-huh.

...and, and Yiddish I only speak; I don't read. And many Slovak languages.

Yeah.

I'm bi-lingual.

Okay, is there anybody else--anybody who you associate with--perhaps one of your card partners or anybody else who...

I will ask.

Okay.


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