CARLSBAD, Calif. (KGTV) — A 95-year-old Holocaust survivor who lives in Carlsbad is going on a once-in-a-lifetime mission to Poland, where he survived six concentration camps, including Auschwitz.
Benjamin Midler was born in 1928, in a small town in eastern Poland. His life changed forever when Nazi Germany occupied the country, forcing his entire family into a ghetto.
"The first thing they did, they shoved in between 1,000 and 1,500 people in the big synagogue to put it on fire," said Midler.
Midler lived in this ghetto for two years, losing his father and uncle. The remaining family members were loaded into trains bound for concentration camps.
"I've been through six camps," said Midler. "The reason I went to six camps was because when I was separated from my family I decided… not that I decided... I wanted to be back with my family."
So, Midler volunteered to travel from camp to camp, avoiding execution by working a range of jobs. But that wasn't his only survival tactic when hundreds of thousands of people also died of starvation.
"So I'm not ashamed to say — I would see if people didn't move, I would look for any bread left over," said Midler. "Because older people tried to leave food for later. Young people don't save it for later, they're hungry and want to eat now."
Midler was liberated when World War II ended in 1945, the only survivor from his family. He says the keys to his survival were focus and hope.
"Not to think about nothing — just to stay alive. That gave me the strength to go through the Holocaust," said Midler. "Not to think about it, not to live in it, gave me the strength to start a new life."
So his new purpose in life is educating others about the Holocaust. Midler is taking a trip to Poland on Monday, to see Auschwitz decades later as a free man.
"With the hope we should never, ever forget. And to speak up against antisemitism and hatred," said Midler. "Because hatred and bigotry are bringing us to kill each other. We gotta stop it. We gotta love each other."
The Friends of the Israel Defense Forces organized the trip. Midler will spend nine days overseas, traveling to Poland and then visiting Israel. He'll be joined by soldiers from the Israel Defense Forces.
