In 1995, Ben and Jean moved to Las Vegas, Nevada to retire and settle down. By now they were grandparents to multiple grandchildren. That same year, Ben spoke about the Holocaust at his grandson’s elementary school (Lesser, 267). This was Ben’s…

In the summer of 1949, Ben took a four-day greyhound bus ride from New York to Los Angeles (Lesser, 188). His life in Los Angeles began with a rocky start. He was living in a dollar-a-night hotel on Skid Row (Lesser, 189). Unable to find work, he…

In 1947, Ben embarked on a two week journey upon the SS Ernie Pyle to America (Lesser, 147). The steam ship dropped him off at the New York Harbor. After arriving, Ben moved into an apartment in Brooklyn with Lola and Mechel (Lesser, 183).…

In March of 1945, they were transported in the filthy cattle cars once again (Lesser, 133). Ben had led his weak cousin to the back end of the car so that they could support themselves against the wall (Lesser, 135). Unfortunately, when bread was…

It was winter when Ben and Isaac began the journey on foot. They had no warm clothes or shoes to face the harsh weather and they were rarely fed (Lesser, 131). While on this treacherous journey, it became obvious to Ben that the intent of the march…

In June of 1944, Ben was transported to a rock quarry labor camp in Durnhau. The labor camp was a sub-camp of the Gross-Rosen concentration camp (Lesser, 121). Fortunately, he had not been separated from Isaac and his Uncle. Here, the manual labor…

In May of 1944, Ben took his first journey of deportation within a cattle car. Divided into groups of eighty per car, Ben went with his brother Tuli, his cousin Isaac, his aunt and uncle, and his sister Goldie (Lesser, 108). Ben has gone on to say,…

Mechel had arranged a plan for the entire family to escape to Hungary. To do so, he had bribed a coal-truck driver to add a false bottom to his truck, which could smuggle them out in small groups (Lesser, 92). Lola and Mechel chose to go first,…

Ben’s parents decided they needed to escape to the closest town, which was Bochnia. Again, Mechel had been able to arrange an apartment in the Bochnia Ghetto for them to stay. That same night, they snuck out of town. Although it was an effort to…

Mechel, the man who intended to marry Ben’s older sister Lola, provided the Lesser family an opportunity to move out of town. With the agreement of Ben’s father, he had made arrangements for the family to live in Niepolomice (Lesser, 67). Without…