By Cindy Gladden Record Staff Writer While dutifully performing his early morning chores near the quiet town of Bedzin, Poland in 1939, 9-year-old Ben Fainer came face to face with the evils of Nazi Germany. At gunpoint, he was forcibly loaded onto a German truck and taken to a concentration camp along with thousands of other Jews during World War II. It was the first time he had ridden on a truck. He had never traveled more than a mile away from home. He was beginning a six-year journey where he would experience indescribable atrocities and inspirational survival. For much of his life, Fainer kept his horrific memories of the concentration camps to himself. But a strange turn of events convinced him he could make a difference by telling his story. His painful journey is captured in a new book titled, “Silent for Sixty Years.” Fainer, 83, spoke to the Warrenton chapter of the Missouri Retired Teachers Association (MRTA) at College United Methodist Church Tuesday, March 18. He said he is sharing his story because he believes when all the survivors, and those who liberated them, are gone it will be harder for people to comprehend what happened under Hitler’s rule. Fainer was born May 1, 1930, in Poland near the German border. His mother, Hannah Ida Urman Fainer, wanted him to be a rabbi. In September of 1939, he and his father were forced onto one truck; his mother and three siblings were taken by another truck to Auschwitz. They were never seen again. He was first interned at the Jelesnia forced labor camp and would eventually be moved to other concentration camps Blechhammer, Buchenwald, Gross-Rosen, Flossenburg and finally, Dachau. “The horror I have seen in six years I cannot describe,” said Fainer. “How I survived is beyond me.” His story of personal survival has only been shared in the past few years. A chance meeting with a stranger when Fainer was 75 years old gave him his voice. When Fainer was living in Florida for a short time, he had a rabbi friend who agreed to perform the bar mitzvah he should have experienced at age 13. An elderly veteran who lived only five minutes from Fainer happened to see a local newspaper article about the unusual bar mitzvah. The veteran, Norris Nims, of the 26th Infantry Division, was one of Fainer’s liberators. “I was sitting with my golden retriever and the phone rang,” Fainer said. “It was Norris. He asked me if I remembered that morning in 1945, April 23, at 10 a.m. It was pouring rain.” Fainer said at the time of liberation, he and fellow prisoners were on a “death march to nowhere.” He saw tanks coming down the road toward them near Cham, Germany. They were American tanks.“It was an indescribable feeling. There were people who spoke my language and I’m being fed,” Fainer said as he recalled that April day. Fainer said it was not often that one of the liberators meets the one he liberated years later. Nims and Fainer became close friends until Nims’ death at the age of 99. During his presentation in Warrenton, Fainer shared photos of the American soldiers lending their helmets to the children they liberated and feeding them anything they had on hand. Not many people knew about the number tattooed on his arm – 178873. Sharing memories of liberation day with Nims made it possible for Fainer to begin opening up about his experiences. After the war, at age 15 and weighing only 70 pounds, Fainer began searching for his family. Miraculously he found his father very quickly. Among the 250 or so of his relatives who were taken prisoner, Fainer discovered only he and his father survived the concentration camps. Fainer eventually made his way to Ireland, where the sister of his mother had sought refuge before the war. There he met Susan O’Brien, who later became his wife. The couple made their way from Dublin, Ireland, to Canada and finally to St. Louis. The Jewish Holocaust survivor and his Irish Catholic wife became American citizens, and raised a family of seven children. Fainer became an accomplished tailor and made the transition to a more normal world. He had only completed three grades of school before his capture. One day his grandson spotted the number on his arm he usually kept hidden. “Oh, I got hit in the head and I can’t remember my telephone number,” Fainer told his grandson. “What could I say?” Since then, Fainer’s mission has been to tell people of all ages the story of a young boy caught up in the Holocaust. He has spoken to more than 30,000 people at schools, churches and other events. “There will come a time when people will deny it (the Holocaust),” said liberator Phil McKnight on a video presentation shown by Fainer. “How can anybody deny it?” In spite of his experiences during the Holocaust, Fainer said he has “had the most wonderful life anyone could have.” Some of the proceeds from Fainer’s book will support American veterans and the St. Louis Holocaust Museum and Learning Center. “I intend to sell lots of books,” he said. “I need the money to give it away. My soldiers are very dear to me.” In addition to writing his memoir, Fainer has become a producer, writer, narrator and director of several video productions. “While I plan on living to be 100, or maybe more, at some point all of the Holocaust survivors will be gone,” said Fainer in his book. “All that will be left will be our words. I hope they will be enough.” Fainer’s book is available at amazon.com.
Cindy Gladden Photo A SIGNED COPY — Retired teacher, Josie Erfling, waits as Holocaust survivor Ben Fainer signs a copy of his book, "Silent for Sixty Years." Fainer spoke to retired teachers Tuesday, March 18, at College United Methodist Church in Warrenton.
