"It was at Arlington Station which used to be a girls' school. It was just a big old open room with desks kind of like this (makes sweeping gesture with hand), and we sat there and did work all day. Eight hours. But we had 45 minutes for…

Editor's note: Louvinia Jordan scored in the top sixth on the test to join the Signal Corps. "They thought I was smart because I did that... I was shocked.... A lot of math. ‘Cause my work was all in math. They just hit what I knew on…

"Well, I went to Raleigh, and they interviewed me. And then I got a job. And I went to Washington and I took the exam until I was too dumb to learn. But they thought I was smart. And they put me out to work. And I did like math problems. My…

"I was at Tenasin’s drive-in with a bunch of buddies. And I had a bunch of half bottles of whiskey in the trunk of the car. And we all got pretty well soused... We thought the world’s coming to an end. We didn’t know what to think. We knew…

"It was in Genoa. We were in Genoa, Italy, and we were in a big hallway and we heard all kinds of firecrackers going off. I went outside and said, 'La guerra è finito,' the war is ended. I was happy for that. We were going to go to…

"Down in the valley they had a fort crossing from one mountain to the other. The captain called and asked for dive bombers, but three of them came and knocked a hole in the fort. Then as soon as the dive bombers left, the captain wanted, I think…

"We were way up. All we had to worry about were the shells coming. They couldn't come over the mountains, so when they hit one side, the rocks would come flying onto our side. That's the only thing we had to worry about... Staying…

"There was a road leading to the liberation. The last camp that we were in was finally bombed by the P-51 Mustangs on the 16th... of April. On the 23rd of April, that camp was closed. And we were put on what was later known as the Ganacker…

Editor's Note: At Natzweiler, Friedman encountered French prisoners for the first time. As a weekly "treat," the inmates were issued jellied snails on Sundays. Friedman, and some other inmates not familiar with this food item, would…

"The second thing checked out: what kind of food do they give you. When and how much. And of course, you’re sleeping accommodations, etc. And what labor, what kind of work, you know, was least exposed to physical, you know, punishment, etc. So…