The Kitchen Table: Sharing Martin Adler’s Testimony

By Joshua Henderson
From the blog series titled, “The Endurance and Relevance of Survivor Testimonials in the 21^st Century” by students of Professor Sylvia Taschka’s ‘Nazi Germany’ class at Wayne State University. In partnership with the Appelbaum Family Compass Fund.

10-year-old Martin lived a happy life with a happy family. His family—consisting of his two younger brothers and mother and father—would eat at the dinner table just like any other healthy family would do, and he never had to worry about where his next meal was coming from. The biggest question on young Martin’s mind was where babies come from. Was it the “stomach or a stork?” His biggest concern was if his mother would let him wear a belt instead of suspenders, as suspenders were for children and Martin wanted to be seen as a man.

Like all parents do, Martin’s often shielded him from topics that were not meant for children to hear, telling Martin to leave the room when it was time for the adults to talk whenever the conversations got too intense. Martin was often unaware of the world around him. However, only a handful of years later, this protective veil had been lifted entirely, when his father pointed to the chimneys of Auschwitz and said, “That’s where your mother and brothers were burned.”

Life Under the Nazi Regime

Martin (Meilech) Adler was born in September 1929 in a small village in the Transcarpathian region of Czechoslovakia. His testimony offers a perspective into Hungary’s involvement in World War II and the Holocaust that is unbeknownst to many including myself.

Hungary took over Martin’s village in 1939 when he was 10 years old and began persecuting Jews, such as Martin and his family, to “please the Nazi regime” who they were allied with. Martin’s father was soon sent to a labor camp for two years, while his mother—now lacking any money—made a deal for a rabbi to sleep in her bed while she slept on the floor so Martin and his siblings could receive an education. Soon after, Martin and his family got sent to a ghetto by Hungarian police where his mother gave birth to what he was told was a stillborn child, but later came to believe had been killed due to the lack of food there. It was not long before Martin and his family would be deported to Auschwitz by the SS.

Auschwitz and Loss

In 1944, the now 14-year-old Martin had a lot of growing up to do and fast. He pretended to be a 16-year-old to avoid being gassed, a fate that Martin later believed happened almost immediately to his younger brothers who were considered unfit to work because of their youth and his mother who was considered as such because of her sex. Martin was later transported to the Mittelbau-Dora and Bergen-Belsen concentration camps. At these camps, Martin experienced “constant torture, constant agony, constant brutality.”

The Martin who once ate comfortably at the dinner table with his family now witnessed a man get murdered right in front of him for taking a second bowl of soup. The Martin that once wondered where babies came from now wondered if his family was still alive, or when they may have died. The Martin that had once been shielded from the worst of adulthood by the adults he knew now discovered that his mother and brothers had been killed. Not long after, he would discover that his father had been shot and killed as well.

Questions for Martin

Martin’s testimonial offers a unique perspective that other forms of history cannot provide. Perhaps the most shocking revelations of his testimony were his emphasis that he was not scared throughout this whole thing and the relative apathy he said he experienced upon the discovery of his father’s death.

If I saw Martin today, I would ask him how this could possibly be the case. Could it be that his memory is blurring the reality of what actually happened? Had the horrific become so mundane that it did not warrant an emotional expression? Had Martin been unable to truly comprehend what was happening to him? He did say he often daydreamed and believed while at the camps that he would one day return to the kitchen table and discuss with his family what had happened to each other despite knowing deep down their ultimate fates.

In the far future, 55-year-old Martin lived a happy life surrounded by his happy family. The furniture salesman told his story out of hope that it could inspire future generations and play a role in ensuring that an event like the Holocaust never happens again. The pathos of his testimonial has the ability to influence people in a way that nothing else really can. For Martin, it was particularly important that his words would have an impact in making sure that nobody around the world goes hungry like he did those many years ago.

Returning to Life After the Holocaust

By speaking up about this seemingly unspeakable tale, Martin can influence people. He certainly made me better appreciate the blessing that it is to not have to worry about where my next meal is coming from, and to understand the luxury that it is to have a family that surrounds my kitchen table.

Beyond that, Martin hopes his words can serve as evidence that the Holocaust happened; perhaps, he is even trying to convince himself. The 55-year-old had a difficult time stomaching what happened to him, and often failed to believe that it had actually occurred.

He admitted that the ulcers in his stomach during his mid-20s were likely caused by his inability to digest what he had experienced. Yet, Martin said he was “very, very happy,” but admitted that “something [was] missing” from his life. While Martin’s words are thankfully here for all of us to hear, he says he would much rather prefer they were said to his family around the kitchen table, just like he did when he was ten years old.