Marton Adler - July 13, 1989
Bergen-Belsen
What were your first impressions of Belsen when you first got there?
Well, you see, we heard about Belsen in Dora. We heard already in Dora, in Dora already I was there a year, close to a year. We already heard stuff about Auschwitz that people were gassed and all that, not this now what we read from the books and all that. But what I thought of Belsen, I knew, in Dora we knew that if we will, we knew we were going to Belsen or something somebody knew or whatever, then in Belsen they are very tough the selections. So I concentrated very hard that I should look good in Belsen. So I pinched my cheeks really hard, real hard, they should be red. So I should look healthy, but that didn't take place. That process didn't take place. Because that was just about when the war was over and there was all kinds of transport and there was chaos. They shipped each camp here, each camp there. Belsen was taken, given over to the Hungarian soldiers the SS took away so, it was my, the impression was that, see it's not like Reagan went to visit Belsen or some body of delegation goes see it. This is just going, it's just like a piece of merchandise, like in my store the furniture. Today the chair near the door, tomorrow it's gonna be near the back entrance. It wasn't like going from The U of M to the university, to Michigan State. You've seen one, you've seen them all. I mean...
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