"H-I-A-S, which is the Hebrew Immigration Aide Society, used to help immigrants that come to the United States to acclimate themselves. [They] provided the bonding for us to come to America to guarantee that we will not become charge of the…

"I came to United States in June 1950. We arrived in New Orleans on Sunday, I think it was the 4th of June. We couldn’t debark on Sunday. We debarked on Monday. Monday night I was put on a-. What do you call it? Redeye train from New Orleans to…

"So we applied to go to the United States. When the captain found out, he said, 'Look, I can’t give you anything that’d be more valuable for you, more precious for you when you go to America than education.' He said get some education…

"So a few weeks later when we were in town, this fella tells me, 'Hey, I saw your buddy Oskar.' I say, 'What are you talking about?' 'I know, I know, they stationed in the school over there.' So I run over to that…

"So we were sitting there, we started [to] crazily dance. First of all we were shocked. We were free. It was over. The nightmare was over. And we couldn’t react to it. One of them, all of a sudden dancing and jumping up and down in the hay. We…

"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…

Editor's Note: After Friedman left Horgau, he went to Leonberg where he worked in another airplane factory. There, he made cigarette boxes from aluminum scraps for a time, at the request of his German supervisor, in exchange for extra rations.…

"It was just sheer luck. But in order to get to the point of sheer luck and in order to survive to that particular point, you needed besides physical support, you needed what I would call spiritual and emotional and intellectual support. And…