Saul's Story and Full Video Testimony
Saul Dreier was born in Kraków, Poland in 1925. Until the outbreak of World War II, he enjoyed a normal childhood. But in 1939, at just 14 years old, his life was shattered by the Nazi invasion. Two years later, in 1941, he and his family were forced into the ghetto.
Soon after, he was deported to the Płaszów labor camp and, about a year later, transferred to work at Oskar Schindler’s factory in Zabłocie, a subcamp of Płaszów. In July 1944, Saul was placed on a transport bound for Auschwitz — the same transport from which Schindler later rescued many of “his list.” Saul recalls the train waiting on the tracks for hours. When the doors finally opened, it was not Auschwitz, but Mauthausen. He spent several weeks there before being sent to Gusen, then to Linz, where he was forced to work as a welder at the Haubwergstate Factory. After the factory was bombed, he was reassigned to repair railroad cars.
He was eventually liberated by the American army.
After the war, Saul spent time in Italy before moving to the United States, where he built a new life, met his wife, and started a business. Music, which helped him survive the darkest times, remained his lifelong passion. Saul is the founder of the Holocaust Survivor Band and at 100 years old he continues to share his story through music and public speaking across the world, ensuring the memory lives on.
Video Transcript
I Built a Family. I Built a Future.
An Interview with Saul
Meeting Saul
Leslie: Today I’m in Florida to meet a young drummer who’s about to turn 100.
Leslie: Saul is a survivor of multiple concentration camps. About 20 years ago, well into his 80s, he founded the Holocaust Survivors Band, which has since gained widespread acclaim.
Saul: I played “Hava Nagila” at the White House, too, for Holocaust survivors. You see the president over my shoulder.
Speaker unconfirmed: Saul [surname transcribed as “dryer”; spelling unconfirmed].
Leslie: For Saul, the drums have become part of his daily life, though he started playing in an extraordinary way.
Saul: If you can give me the [word unclear in captions], I’ll show you how.
Leslie: You were playing with spoons?
Saul: With spoons in the concentration camp.
Leslie: Uh-huh. [Brief fragment unclear in captions.]
Childhood and the Ghetto
Saul: I went to public school with Jews and non-Jews. The teachers were Polish, wonderful. We learned. There was no problem. The minute the war broke out, it was hell. Simple as that. The Germans came: “Out! Out! Pack up! Out!” People were taking whatever they could and going to the ghetto.
Saul: We were living outside the ghetto, but we had to move in. Thank God my grandmother was living in the ghetto, so we moved to her home. [The next phrase listing family members is unclear.] My mother, my sister, me, two uncles and one aunt.
Leslie: One day, while he was at school in the ghetto, Saul saw his mother from a distance, being arrested.
Saul: I saw my mother, so I ran out of school toward her. Two detectives stopped me and said, “Where are you running?” I said, “My mother is there. You see?” He said, “Listen, if you go there, you’re never going to come back. If you stay here, you have a chance.” And I stayed.
Leslie: So you were never able to say goodbye to your mother?
Saul: Never. She went. That was it.
Saul: The Germans came and took away my two uncles, my aunt and my grandmother. I was left because I was working outside the ghetto.
A Brief Reunion with His Father
Leslie: From that moment on, he was alone. His father, an officer in the Polish army, had already been taken before the rest of the family.
Saul: One morning, I was standing in the street. A man came up to me and said, “Hi, Saul.” I said, “Hi. Who are you?” He said, “I’m your father.” I couldn’t recognize him.
Saul: My father had been in a camp. [A phrase about his capture during the war is unclear.] He escaped and came to the ghetto with his clothes ripped. You could see everything. How he walked, how he escaped, I don’t know. I never discussed it with him.
Leslie: Their reunion was brief. More roundups followed. His father was taken once again. During the liquidation of the ghetto, Saul was deported to Płaszów.
Surviving Płaszów
Saul: Life in Płaszów was tough. It wasn’t life. It was just hell. No food. They were bringing people from all over to the [factory name or word unclear in captions], where they were sewing uniforms for the soldiers. Women from Hungary, with their heads shaved. A mess, a mess, a mess.
Saul: They built a mass grave for many people. They liquidated a hospital in [place name unclear in captions]. We were carrying sick people toward the grave. Two people carried one person on a stretcher. I carried a few, but there was one who completely knocked me out: an old man. He was sick, and they were beating him. He was yelling the whole time.
Saul: We walked to the grave to put him down, and they used to shoot people in the grave. [A brief phrase about the commander is unclear.] When we came to the grave, I said to [name unclear], “We have to do something. I want to save the man.” He said, “You’re going to save the man? He’s going to kill us.” Which was true.
Saul: I said, “[Name unclear], [instructions about putting the man down at the side are unclear in the captions].” He said, “We’re going to do that.” We turned him over, put him down and left. To this day, I don’t know if I saved the man, if he was alive or if they shot him. I don’t know. Since then, I told myself, “I have to live. I have to live. I have to live.” But how I survived, I don’t know.
Leslie: How long did you stay in Płaszów?
Saul: 1941 to 1943 [dates as supplied; require verification].
Saul: But I was lucky. Schindler came and made a deal with [name unclear], with the commander, and took about 2,000 Jews to his factory and his concentration camp. Schindler had a concentration camp, too. [A phrase about Schindler is unclear.] Then they took us away to different concentration camps.
Forced Labor and Small Acts of Help
Leslie: He was later transferred through several camps—Gusen and Mauthausen—then sent to forced labor in [place transcribed as “Lind”; unconfirmed].
Saul: While I was working in [place name unclear], I was paid in cigarettes.
Leslie: Mhm.
Saul: I had a foreman from Czechoslovakia. He said, “If you give me [word unclear] cigarettes, I’ll give you a little bread.” He saved me. First of all, he didn’t send me to carry the big cans of soup up. Then he called me to the back when the soup at the top had already been consumed. I got what was at the bottom.
Leslie: Because it was richer?
Saul: A little richer. There were Italians, Greeks, Russians and Polish prisoners like me, from all over Europe. They were doing business: “I’ll sell you this for cigarettes.” And I had cigarettes. Somehow I survived. I was lucky. I survived.
Injury and Liberation
Leslie: Saul remembers the chaos of liberation, which began for him inside the factory where he was working.
Saul: The factory was bombed, and I was wounded. My finger was hanging, and it was wet with blood. [The following phrase about blood is unclear.] Eventually, the concentration camp commander was afraid he was going to be killed by Hitler. He took us to the roll-call square, and we walked straight out of the concentration camp under the guns.
Saul: On the way, I saw American tanks and jeeps, all lined up. I saw a man with a Red Cross. He took me to the hospital, where I had surgery. He took some pictures of me, gave them to me, and they left.
Recovery in Italy and News of His Family
Leslie: After the war, he found himself in a displaced persons camp in Italy, where he stayed for five years.
Saul: I had plans, [phrase unclear in captions]. After the war, we swam. [The sentence about jumping from a window into the water is unclear.] I had a wonderful life. I was recuperating. I played soccer. I worked for the Jewish immigration office. I did a lot of things.
Saul: My uncle found me and wrote me [phrase about a letter in Polish unclear]. He told me, “Saul, everybody’s gone. I already checked. Only you.”
Leslie: Your mother, your father, your sister?
Saul: Finished. Finished. No discussion. My mother went to [camp name unclear in captions]. My father and the rest of the family all went to [camp name unclear in captions].
Saul: My best teenage years were taken away. Life was stolen from me. Of course. What did I have?
Building a Family and a Future
Leslie: In 1949, he immigrated to the United States. He married his wife, also a survivor, and together they built a family.
Saul: I met my wife. I have four children and eight grandchildren. I built a family. I built a future. But we didn’t talk to the children about it. One day, [reference to a Spielberg interview project unclear in captions], they were filming me.
Leslie: Oh.
Saul: Yes, at my house. [Phrase about Spielberg and his account unclear in captions.] The children were in the house, and they found out.
Leslie: That’s how they found out?
Saul: Yes.
Leslie: You never mentioned it?
Saul: I spoke Polish with my wife. The children couldn’t pick up anything.
Leslie: Wow.
Keep Playing
Leslie: Keep playing those drums. [Name unclear in captions] is inviting me to your birthday. I’m going to be there. Be well.
Speaker unconfirmed: Bye. Thank you. Bye-bye.
