1 00:00:00,560 --> 00:00:09,360 Speaker 1: Ola Latino USA. Listener, Here's a show from our archivos 2 00:00:09,400 --> 00:00:13,960 Speaker 1: from Fuduromedia and PRX. It's Latino Usa. I'm Mariao Rosa 3 00:00:14,400 --> 00:00:18,000 Speaker 1: Today the story of the only Mexican American to register 4 00:00:18,520 --> 00:00:33,760 Speaker 1: as a Holocaust survivor and the scars that stayed with him. 5 00:00:33,800 --> 00:00:36,840 Speaker 1: In October of twenty ten, a man in his late 6 00:00:36,920 --> 00:00:41,280 Speaker 1: eighties walked into the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, 7 00:00:41,360 --> 00:00:46,200 Speaker 1: d C. And registered as a Holocaust survivor. His name 8 00:00:46,240 --> 00:00:49,120 Speaker 1: is Anthony es Sebo, and he walked in with items 9 00:00:49,159 --> 00:00:53,239 Speaker 1: including a Red Cross armband, a Catholic prayer book, and 10 00:00:53,280 --> 00:00:57,720 Speaker 1: most importantly, a tattered war diary with the pages still intact. 11 00:00:58,720 --> 00:01:02,120 Speaker 1: Anthony was one of three hundred and fifty American soldiers 12 00:01:02,360 --> 00:01:06,000 Speaker 1: who were imprisoned inside a Nazi concentration camp during World 13 00:01:06,080 --> 00:01:11,320 Speaker 1: War Two and then kept it a secret. Throughout the story, 14 00:01:11,720 --> 00:01:15,160 Speaker 1: you'll hear Anthony in his own words through an oral 15 00:01:15,240 --> 00:01:19,240 Speaker 1: history that he recorded at the Holocaust Museum in twenty ten. 16 00:01:19,840 --> 00:01:23,360 Speaker 1: You'll also hear excerpts from his diary, which are read 17 00:01:23,560 --> 00:01:27,679 Speaker 1: by an actor. Producer Genie Yamogam brings us the story 18 00:01:27,720 --> 00:01:31,600 Speaker 1: now of Anthony Acevedo. 19 00:01:31,880 --> 00:01:35,600 Speaker 2: Anthony A. Savedo grew up in a Mexican household in Pasadena, California, 20 00:01:35,720 --> 00:01:38,520 Speaker 2: east of Los Angeles, and much of his childhood was 21 00:01:38,560 --> 00:01:41,160 Speaker 2: pretty typical of the time. He played with his cousins, 22 00:01:41,240 --> 00:01:43,920 Speaker 2: went to school, attended church. But then one day in 23 00:01:43,959 --> 00:01:47,199 Speaker 2: the mid nineteen thirties, when Anthony was almost ten years old, 24 00:01:47,640 --> 00:01:50,480 Speaker 2: he noticed that all his family's furniture had been packed up. 25 00:01:51,160 --> 00:01:53,040 Speaker 2: So he asked his mom what was going on. 26 00:01:53,600 --> 00:01:54,960 Speaker 3: What's happened? Where are you going? 27 00:01:55,080 --> 00:01:58,560 Speaker 4: He said, no, we're all going. And he says where 28 00:01:58,600 --> 00:02:01,520 Speaker 4: are we going? He says, We're going to Mexico and 29 00:02:01,600 --> 00:02:04,960 Speaker 4: is why? Is it? Because we were told to leave 30 00:02:05,000 --> 00:02:09,200 Speaker 4: the United States. 31 00:02:11,200 --> 00:02:13,519 Speaker 2: Anthony himself had been born in the US, but his 32 00:02:13,720 --> 00:02:18,080 Speaker 2: parents they were undocumented, and at the time, many Mexican 33 00:02:18,120 --> 00:02:21,360 Speaker 2: American families were being pressured to leave the US in 34 00:02:21,400 --> 00:02:26,120 Speaker 2: something known as the Mexican repatriation. In the nineteen thirties, 35 00:02:26,320 --> 00:02:29,280 Speaker 2: Mexicans were the largest and most recent immigrant group to 36 00:02:29,360 --> 00:02:33,000 Speaker 2: settle in the US, and following the Great Depression, they 37 00:02:33,000 --> 00:02:37,760 Speaker 2: were scapegoats for the economic downturn. Historians say that somewhere 38 00:02:37,760 --> 00:02:40,720 Speaker 2: between half a million and two million immigrants as well 39 00:02:40,760 --> 00:02:43,640 Speaker 2: as US citizens like Anthony, were forced out of the country. 40 00:02:44,800 --> 00:02:47,960 Speaker 2: So Anthony and his family moved south to Mexico, to 41 00:02:48,040 --> 00:02:48,959 Speaker 2: the state of Durango. 42 00:02:49,919 --> 00:02:53,640 Speaker 4: Oh, they call me Zageringo because I was born in 43 00:02:53,639 --> 00:02:56,480 Speaker 4: the United States and I. 44 00:02:56,440 --> 00:02:59,200 Speaker 3: Know half English and half Spanish. 45 00:03:00,000 --> 00:03:04,560 Speaker 2: It's kind of difficult, but Anthony gets by, adapts, grows up, 46 00:03:05,120 --> 00:03:11,720 Speaker 2: and then World War two starts, and right at the 47 00:03:11,760 --> 00:03:17,560 Speaker 2: end of nineteen forty one, Japanese forces attack Pearl Harbor 48 00:03:20,480 --> 00:03:22,600 Speaker 2: and the United States enters the war. 49 00:03:23,120 --> 00:03:26,600 Speaker 4: No matter how long it may take us, the American 50 00:03:26,720 --> 00:03:31,520 Speaker 4: people in the right just might will win collab. 51 00:03:32,840 --> 00:03:35,960 Speaker 2: By this point, Anthony is seventeen, and all of a sudden, 52 00:03:36,160 --> 00:03:39,040 Speaker 2: the US is trying to enlist any men of fighting age, 53 00:03:39,160 --> 00:03:43,600 Speaker 2: including Anthony, even though he'd been repatriated to Mexico. 54 00:03:44,120 --> 00:03:48,840 Speaker 4: The Consul general the United States was after me because 55 00:03:48,880 --> 00:03:52,000 Speaker 4: of my age and getting ready to go back in 56 00:03:52,000 --> 00:03:57,320 Speaker 4: the United States and serve your country. 57 00:03:57,480 --> 00:04:01,760 Speaker 2: Yes, sir, he was drafted. So he packed his bags, 58 00:04:01,760 --> 00:04:03,880 Speaker 2: said goodbye to his family, and headed back to the 59 00:04:04,000 --> 00:04:07,240 Speaker 2: US to answer the call. He went to California and 60 00:04:07,320 --> 00:04:10,440 Speaker 2: was trained to be an army medic, and then in 61 00:04:10,440 --> 00:04:12,680 Speaker 2: the fall of nineteen forty four, he was sent to 62 00:04:12,720 --> 00:04:13,720 Speaker 2: Europe to. 63 00:04:13,680 --> 00:04:17,719 Speaker 4: Meet the German drive Generalizeenhower. Here at Supreme Headquarters, resourcefully 64 00:04:17,720 --> 00:04:19,560 Speaker 4: regrouped his forses, giving cha in. 65 00:04:19,560 --> 00:04:21,279 Speaker 2: A group of soldiers he was with took a train 66 00:04:21,320 --> 00:04:24,520 Speaker 2: to a small town in Germany called Philipsburg. By this 67 00:04:24,560 --> 00:04:26,719 Speaker 2: time it was late December of a really hard winter, 68 00:04:27,360 --> 00:04:29,520 Speaker 2: and when they got out of the train, snow was 69 00:04:29,560 --> 00:04:33,440 Speaker 2: waist deep in some places. A few miles away, the 70 00:04:33,480 --> 00:04:36,279 Speaker 2: Battle of the Bulge was underway. It was a German's 71 00:04:36,480 --> 00:04:43,560 Speaker 2: last major offensive of the war. It was difficult for 72 00:04:43,600 --> 00:04:46,600 Speaker 2: Anthony to find the wounded. There were bullets buzzing through 73 00:04:46,640 --> 00:04:50,200 Speaker 2: the air, and the calls of medic medic were lost 74 00:04:50,240 --> 00:04:53,240 Speaker 2: in the echoes of the fighting taking place in the forest. 75 00:04:54,320 --> 00:04:57,159 Speaker 2: But he found some of the injured soldiers, and one 76 00:04:57,200 --> 00:04:59,440 Speaker 2: by one he tried to help them. 77 00:05:00,160 --> 00:05:07,760 Speaker 4: Doing repair jumps, first aid sutures and sewing thumbs, cutting 78 00:05:07,760 --> 00:05:11,800 Speaker 4: a leg off and put a turniquet and sewing up 79 00:05:11,880 --> 00:05:18,120 Speaker 4: that leg the stump, doing this and that as a medica. 80 00:05:19,400 --> 00:05:23,280 Speaker 2: The battle lasted for days until finally Anthony's unit ran 81 00:05:23,279 --> 00:05:28,520 Speaker 2: out of ammunition. The Americans began destroying everything, equipment, firearms, 82 00:05:28,520 --> 00:05:31,400 Speaker 2: anything that the Nazis could use against them, and they 83 00:05:31,440 --> 00:05:35,119 Speaker 2: decided it was time to surrender, so a scout walked 84 00:05:35,120 --> 00:05:42,680 Speaker 2: out and waved a white flag. It was January sixth, 85 00:05:42,839 --> 00:05:47,280 Speaker 2: nineteen forty five. Anthony and thousands of other American soldiers 86 00:05:47,279 --> 00:05:50,080 Speaker 2: were taken to a prison camp known as Stalic nine 87 00:05:50,160 --> 00:05:54,560 Speaker 2: B in bad Orb, Germany. The prisoners were referred to 88 00:05:54,640 --> 00:05:58,200 Speaker 2: by numbers instead of their names. Anthony was two seven 89 00:05:58,320 --> 00:06:03,680 Speaker 2: zero one six. Then on February eighth, all the soldiers 90 00:06:03,680 --> 00:06:05,720 Speaker 2: were commanded to line up. 91 00:06:05,600 --> 00:06:16,239 Speaker 4: And the commander said, all American Jews with names Jewish, 92 00:06:16,680 --> 00:06:18,599 Speaker 4: take two steps forward. 93 00:06:19,720 --> 00:06:22,440 Speaker 2: Anthony says that at that point people who had any 94 00:06:22,480 --> 00:06:25,320 Speaker 2: markers of their Jewish faith little star medals or dog 95 00:06:25,360 --> 00:06:28,560 Speaker 2: tags with an H written on them for Hebrew, desperately 96 00:06:28,640 --> 00:06:30,560 Speaker 2: began to try to get rid of him, but to 97 00:06:30,640 --> 00:06:36,800 Speaker 2: no avail. That day, the Nazis selected about ninety Jewish 98 00:06:36,839 --> 00:06:41,560 Speaker 2: soldiers and another two hundred and sixty soldiers labeled undesirables, 99 00:06:42,160 --> 00:06:45,799 Speaker 2: men who they simply thought look Jewish, consider trouble makers 100 00:06:46,200 --> 00:06:50,320 Speaker 2: or any type of other This included twenty year old Anthony. 101 00:06:50,800 --> 00:06:52,760 Speaker 2: It could have been because he was brown skinned, or 102 00:06:52,800 --> 00:06:55,120 Speaker 2: because he was Catholic, or they saw him as a 103 00:06:55,160 --> 00:06:58,160 Speaker 2: trouble maker. We don't know for sure. They didn't need 104 00:06:58,200 --> 00:07:04,640 Speaker 2: a reason. The following day, the Nazis put the undesirables 105 00:07:04,720 --> 00:07:06,480 Speaker 2: on a train a box car. 106 00:07:07,000 --> 00:07:09,920 Speaker 3: You couldn't kneel, you couldn't squat. 107 00:07:10,440 --> 00:07:16,520 Speaker 4: For six days in those box cars, fellas couldn't defecate 108 00:07:16,640 --> 00:07:26,560 Speaker 4: that all, they had to do it right there. And 109 00:07:28,520 --> 00:07:32,960 Speaker 4: for six days you couldn't eat nothing. 110 00:07:33,040 --> 00:07:35,240 Speaker 3: You could have nothing to eat, nothing to drink. 111 00:07:37,040 --> 00:07:41,120 Speaker 4: But the snow that hit the from the cracks, you 112 00:07:41,240 --> 00:07:45,520 Speaker 4: try to lick it or punk your hand through the 113 00:07:46,400 --> 00:07:49,280 Speaker 4: slot window to get the drops of water. 114 00:07:50,200 --> 00:07:50,800 Speaker 3: From the rain. 115 00:07:55,640 --> 00:07:59,120 Speaker 2: Eventually they arrived at a concentration camp known as Berga. 116 00:08:00,080 --> 00:08:02,840 Speaker 2: It was a subcamp of Buchenwald, one of the largest 117 00:08:02,880 --> 00:08:04,320 Speaker 2: Nazi concentration camps. 118 00:08:06,080 --> 00:08:10,360 Speaker 4: It was so snowy that you couldn't catch the glimpse 119 00:08:10,480 --> 00:08:15,320 Speaker 4: very well, but you see like towers of houses. 120 00:08:16,120 --> 00:08:18,520 Speaker 2: The men were divided into groups of sixty to eighty 121 00:08:18,560 --> 00:08:21,200 Speaker 2: men per barrick. There were other prisoners in the camp 122 00:08:21,240 --> 00:08:25,040 Speaker 2: as well, mainly European Jews, but they were separated from 123 00:08:25,040 --> 00:08:31,640 Speaker 2: the American prisoners. The captured soldiers were forced to work 124 00:08:31,640 --> 00:08:34,600 Speaker 2: in the camp. Many were put to work digging tunnels 125 00:08:34,640 --> 00:08:38,079 Speaker 2: for underground fuel factories the Nazis were working on. Since 126 00:08:38,120 --> 00:08:40,520 Speaker 2: Anthony was one of just a few medics in the camp, 127 00:08:40,880 --> 00:08:43,120 Speaker 2: he was tasked with trying to keep the men alive 128 00:08:43,200 --> 00:08:47,160 Speaker 2: as they worked. One day, the men were given a 129 00:08:47,280 --> 00:08:50,320 Speaker 2: rare red Cross package and in it a couple of 130 00:08:50,360 --> 00:08:54,680 Speaker 2: empty journals. So Anthony took one and began writing in secret. 131 00:08:55,400 --> 00:08:57,959 Speaker 2: He sketched the places and the scenes he witnessed. He 132 00:08:57,960 --> 00:09:00,800 Speaker 2: even sketched a couple of pinup girls, and to keep 133 00:09:00,840 --> 00:09:03,959 Speaker 2: the diary safe, he tucked it under his belt. 134 00:09:04,600 --> 00:09:09,319 Speaker 5: March twentieth, nineteen forty five. Yesterday our planes dropped leaflets 135 00:09:09,480 --> 00:09:12,240 Speaker 5: as well as bombs. Six men were sent to a 136 00:09:12,240 --> 00:09:17,200 Speaker 5: British hospital. Five more men escaped today. Goldstein's body was 137 00:09:17,240 --> 00:09:21,199 Speaker 5: returned here today for burial. He was shot while attempting 138 00:09:21,240 --> 00:09:25,800 Speaker 5: to re escape, so they say, but actually was recaptured 139 00:09:26,000 --> 00:09:27,040 Speaker 5: and shot through the head. 140 00:09:29,040 --> 00:09:32,120 Speaker 2: Anthony's diary became a record of daily life in the camp. 141 00:09:32,559 --> 00:09:37,280 Speaker 5: March twenty second, nineteen forty five, Private Schultz died of malnutrition. 142 00:09:38,280 --> 00:09:41,280 Speaker 5: This is the fourth man to die. The weather is 143 00:09:41,320 --> 00:09:44,200 Speaker 5: beautiful and it looks like spring, which has finally come 144 00:09:44,200 --> 00:09:47,160 Speaker 5: to Germany. By this time back home, I'd be suffering 145 00:09:47,200 --> 00:09:47,839 Speaker 5: from hay fever. 146 00:09:48,960 --> 00:09:52,120 Speaker 4: We had got one hundred grams of bread per week. 147 00:09:53,160 --> 00:09:56,439 Speaker 4: The hundred bred brands of Bridge is not much. It 148 00:09:56,559 --> 00:10:04,760 Speaker 4: was a mixed of barley with sawdust, ground glass and 149 00:10:04,880 --> 00:10:09,120 Speaker 4: ground sam. 150 00:10:07,640 --> 00:10:12,920 Speaker 5: March twenty fifth, nineteen forty five, Palm Sunday. No chances 151 00:10:12,960 --> 00:10:16,200 Speaker 5: of going to a church, but still our prayers are 152 00:10:16,240 --> 00:10:19,640 Speaker 5: holding everyone up this day. It reminded me of the 153 00:10:19,800 --> 00:10:23,480 Speaker 5: hundreds of people attending Mass at the cathedral in Durango, Mexico. 154 00:10:24,160 --> 00:10:28,520 Speaker 5: I wish I could be there now. March thirtieth, nineteen 155 00:10:28,600 --> 00:10:32,640 Speaker 5: forty five, Good Friday. On this holy day, our thoughts 156 00:10:32,640 --> 00:10:35,360 Speaker 5: are all at home and of the coming Easter Sunday. 157 00:10:36,200 --> 00:10:38,360 Speaker 5: It is also the feast of the Passover for our 158 00:10:38,440 --> 00:10:42,160 Speaker 5: Jewish comrades, and they also think of home and family. 159 00:10:43,920 --> 00:10:46,760 Speaker 2: As the journal entries went on, the more Anthony wrote 160 00:10:46,760 --> 00:10:49,680 Speaker 2: about the horrors in Berga. Men from his unit began 161 00:10:49,720 --> 00:10:53,760 Speaker 2: to die in greater numbers from alnutrition or beatings or 162 00:10:53,800 --> 00:10:54,680 Speaker 2: being overworked. 163 00:10:55,000 --> 00:10:59,160 Speaker 5: April second, nineteen forty five, two more of our men 164 00:10:59,240 --> 00:11:03,800 Speaker 5: died today, and one last night makes three plus sixteen 165 00:11:04,280 --> 00:11:09,960 Speaker 5: makes nineteen. Living in unsanitary conditions. Water must be boiled 166 00:11:10,000 --> 00:11:15,240 Speaker 5: before it is drunk. No latrines. Deaths are increasing in 167 00:11:15,280 --> 00:11:18,880 Speaker 5: great number. Men forced to work in the mind, whether 168 00:11:18,880 --> 00:11:19,640 Speaker 5: they are ill or not. 169 00:11:20,679 --> 00:11:23,400 Speaker 2: Sometimes Anthony simply recorded. 170 00:11:23,000 --> 00:11:29,680 Speaker 5: Deaths Rogers March ninth, nineteen forty five, Young March twelfth, 171 00:11:29,800 --> 00:11:36,600 Speaker 5: nineteen forty five, Goldstein March tenth, nineteen forty five, Goldberg 172 00:11:37,080 --> 00:11:38,040 Speaker 5: March twenty fifth. 173 00:11:38,720 --> 00:11:43,160 Speaker 4: I knew that maybe someday it would be a valuable 174 00:11:43,240 --> 00:11:49,319 Speaker 4: thing for us to know that that there was important. 175 00:11:53,240 --> 00:11:55,079 Speaker 3: I had a fountain pen with me that I was 176 00:11:55,160 --> 00:11:57,640 Speaker 3: raised all the time with it, and I don't know 177 00:11:57,679 --> 00:12:00,800 Speaker 3: how God gave me that. Eighth the less. 178 00:12:17,600 --> 00:12:21,680 Speaker 1: Coming up on Latino USA. American forces inch closer to 179 00:12:21,720 --> 00:12:25,160 Speaker 1: defeating the Nazis and liberating the men at Burga. 180 00:12:25,800 --> 00:12:29,640 Speaker 5: Received very good news today. The Americans are two hundred 181 00:12:29,679 --> 00:12:32,120 Speaker 5: and fifty kilometers from here and moving fast. 182 00:12:32,720 --> 00:13:18,240 Speaker 1: Stay with us, Yes, hey, we're back. And when we 183 00:13:18,320 --> 00:13:21,960 Speaker 1: left off, twenty year old Anthony Esevedo was documenting his 184 00:13:22,120 --> 00:13:25,640 Speaker 1: daily life as a prisoner inside a Nazi concentration camp 185 00:13:25,960 --> 00:13:37,480 Speaker 1: known as Berga. Producer Janis Yamoga picks up the story now, but. 186 00:13:37,600 --> 00:13:40,440 Speaker 4: A temple sized hear at shades that the next few 187 00:13:40,520 --> 00:13:42,360 Speaker 4: days will be spent building. 188 00:13:42,080 --> 00:13:44,719 Speaker 2: Up our forces east of the Rhine. By April, US 189 00:13:44,800 --> 00:13:48,360 Speaker 2: troops had successfully crossed the Rhine River, one step closer 190 00:13:48,360 --> 00:13:51,840 Speaker 2: to defeating Germany. Wile British and American troops were crossing 191 00:13:51,840 --> 00:13:54,959 Speaker 2: the Rhine north of the Roar, the last German resistance 192 00:13:55,000 --> 00:13:57,720 Speaker 2: west of the Rhine collapsed. Don't they were nearing Berga 193 00:13:58,240 --> 00:14:02,800 Speaker 2: and Anthony and his fellow prisoners. We're hearing rumors received very. 194 00:14:02,640 --> 00:14:05,959 Speaker 5: Good news today. The Americans are two hundred and fifty 195 00:14:06,000 --> 00:14:09,760 Speaker 5: kilometers from here and moving fast. Received good news. Americans 196 00:14:09,760 --> 00:14:12,680 Speaker 5: are only two hundred kilometers away from here, which means 197 00:14:12,720 --> 00:14:16,400 Speaker 5: they're excellent news today. Americans are only one hundred kilometers 198 00:14:16,400 --> 00:14:19,400 Speaker 5: from here. Said that our boys were sixty kilometers from us. 199 00:14:19,680 --> 00:14:23,480 Speaker 2: The Nazis evacuated the subcamp and forced the remaining soldiers 200 00:14:23,520 --> 00:14:26,440 Speaker 2: on a death march that would last three weeks and 201 00:14:26,560 --> 00:14:27,880 Speaker 2: over two hundred miles. 202 00:14:28,200 --> 00:14:32,480 Speaker 5: April ninth, nineteen forty five, we marched ten kilometers today. 203 00:14:32,920 --> 00:14:35,160 Speaker 5: We're supposed to go to the town of Hof, but 204 00:14:35,360 --> 00:14:37,960 Speaker 5: we arrived to a big barn for our air corps 205 00:14:37,960 --> 00:14:43,520 Speaker 5: were bombing that town continuously. We started out with three 206 00:14:43,640 --> 00:14:46,160 Speaker 5: hundred and four men from Berga. We now have two 207 00:14:46,280 --> 00:14:47,520 Speaker 5: hundred and eighty seven men. 208 00:14:48,080 --> 00:14:50,760 Speaker 2: Many of the men died on the march. Their bodies 209 00:14:50,800 --> 00:14:52,400 Speaker 2: were left by the side of the road. 210 00:14:53,000 --> 00:14:59,040 Speaker 5: Stuart April fifth, nineteen forty five. Vogel April ninth, nineteen 211 00:14:59,200 --> 00:14:59,760 Speaker 5: forty five. 212 00:15:00,200 --> 00:15:03,200 Speaker 2: Weeks went by, then suddenly, very early in the morning, 213 00:15:03,440 --> 00:15:09,840 Speaker 2: the men heard firing like thunder in the distance. The 214 00:15:09,920 --> 00:15:16,000 Speaker 2: American tanks were getting closer. The Nazis wanted to continue 215 00:15:16,000 --> 00:15:18,720 Speaker 2: marching and threaten the men that they shoot them if 216 00:15:18,720 --> 00:15:22,760 Speaker 2: they didn't continue, but Anthony and another medic stood their ground, 217 00:15:23,120 --> 00:15:26,680 Speaker 2: and the Nazis, afraid of the advancing troops, fled. 218 00:15:31,080 --> 00:15:35,400 Speaker 4: We started hearing the rumbling getting closer, and we all 219 00:15:35,520 --> 00:15:37,520 Speaker 4: started to run towards the highway. 220 00:15:38,280 --> 00:15:40,360 Speaker 2: When they got to the highway, they found the eleventh 221 00:15:40,480 --> 00:15:43,800 Speaker 2: Armor Division. The men were finally free again. 222 00:15:44,360 --> 00:15:49,120 Speaker 5: We were liberated today, April the twenty third, nineteen forty five. 223 00:15:55,360 --> 00:15:58,520 Speaker 2: Out of three hundred and fifty American soldiers, about half 224 00:15:58,560 --> 00:16:01,040 Speaker 2: of the men's or by Berga, and many of the 225 00:16:01,080 --> 00:16:05,400 Speaker 2: remaining men were close to death. When Anthony was first captured, 226 00:16:05,640 --> 00:16:08,560 Speaker 2: he weighed one hundred and forty nine pounds. By the 227 00:16:08,600 --> 00:16:13,400 Speaker 2: time he was set free, he weighed eighty seven. The 228 00:16:13,480 --> 00:16:16,800 Speaker 2: surviving men, including Anthony, were taken to hospitals, and by 229 00:16:16,880 --> 00:16:19,240 Speaker 2: June they were on their way back home to the US. 230 00:16:20,000 --> 00:16:23,400 Speaker 2: But there was one condition, one that the former captives 231 00:16:23,480 --> 00:16:25,560 Speaker 2: didn't quite understand, so we. 232 00:16:25,640 --> 00:16:28,000 Speaker 4: Had to sign it up and David where we had 233 00:16:28,040 --> 00:16:35,480 Speaker 4: to swear that we never were in a condition or 234 00:16:35,520 --> 00:16:41,040 Speaker 4: suffered in the condition that we had got through by 235 00:16:41,080 --> 00:16:43,560 Speaker 4: the Germans. 236 00:16:44,720 --> 00:16:47,000 Speaker 2: The war was still going on and the US military 237 00:16:47,040 --> 00:16:49,640 Speaker 2: wanted to keep exactly what went on inside the Nazi 238 00:16:49,640 --> 00:16:52,800 Speaker 2: prison camps a secret, since they had soldiers being held 239 00:16:52,800 --> 00:16:55,880 Speaker 2: as prisoners of war and believed information getting out could 240 00:16:55,880 --> 00:16:59,200 Speaker 2: put them at risk. Some men like Anthony were told 241 00:16:59,240 --> 00:17:00,880 Speaker 2: they had a sign this document. 242 00:17:01,240 --> 00:17:05,680 Speaker 4: They threatened us to be jailed federally by the United 243 00:17:05,680 --> 00:17:06,960 Speaker 4: States government. 244 00:17:06,960 --> 00:17:10,119 Speaker 2: The National Security or not. For the men who survived Burga, 245 00:17:10,359 --> 00:17:12,040 Speaker 2: it felt like they were being told to keep their 246 00:17:12,040 --> 00:17:16,080 Speaker 2: trauma a secret, like they didn't have a choice. So 247 00:17:16,200 --> 00:17:19,560 Speaker 2: Anthony signed the document and for years he didn't talk 248 00:17:19,640 --> 00:17:31,080 Speaker 2: much about what he saw in Berga. After the war, 249 00:17:31,280 --> 00:17:34,720 Speaker 2: Anthony went back to Mexico, then settled in California. He 250 00:17:34,760 --> 00:17:37,720 Speaker 2: got married and he started a family, and he worked 251 00:17:37,720 --> 00:17:40,720 Speaker 2: as an engineer in the aerospace industry for many years. 252 00:17:41,000 --> 00:17:42,640 Speaker 2: Here's his son, Fernando A. Savedo. 253 00:17:42,960 --> 00:17:45,040 Speaker 6: I just remember sitting at the table and it was 254 00:17:45,119 --> 00:17:48,600 Speaker 6: being you know, a kid that's real picky about what 255 00:17:48,640 --> 00:17:51,400 Speaker 6: they're eating. And I just remember my dad stating when 256 00:17:51,400 --> 00:17:53,800 Speaker 6: I would leave the edges of the bread when I 257 00:17:53,840 --> 00:17:56,640 Speaker 6: was a prisoner a war, that's all I had to eat, 258 00:17:57,000 --> 00:17:58,320 Speaker 6: and that just stuck with me. 259 00:17:59,000 --> 00:18:01,800 Speaker 2: Fernando is one of Anthony's four children, and he says 260 00:18:01,840 --> 00:18:03,600 Speaker 2: his father did a pretty good job of hiding what 261 00:18:03,640 --> 00:18:04,240 Speaker 2: he'd been through. 262 00:18:04,520 --> 00:18:08,119 Speaker 6: If you look at my dad in those years, you 263 00:18:08,119 --> 00:18:11,480 Speaker 6: could not tell he had gone through anything that was 264 00:18:11,840 --> 00:18:15,280 Speaker 6: an extreme in nature, because I mean, he hid his 265 00:18:15,800 --> 00:18:17,240 Speaker 6: PTSD so well. 266 00:18:17,600 --> 00:18:20,280 Speaker 2: Still, it was impossible to hide everything. 267 00:18:20,720 --> 00:18:22,920 Speaker 6: Oh, my dad would just take off, he'd be gone. 268 00:18:23,800 --> 00:18:25,760 Speaker 6: I don't know where he went. And then I'd hear 269 00:18:25,760 --> 00:18:29,439 Speaker 6: my mom go out there, and it's like where everybody go. 270 00:18:29,520 --> 00:18:30,800 Speaker 6: And then I'll see you out there, and I hear 271 00:18:30,840 --> 00:18:34,639 Speaker 6: my dad crying. I would see my mom massage in 272 00:18:34,680 --> 00:18:36,639 Speaker 6: the back of his head, and I would ask, you know, 273 00:18:36,720 --> 00:18:39,920 Speaker 6: what's wrong with what's wrong with Poppy? And she would 274 00:18:39,960 --> 00:18:48,000 Speaker 6: say he's going through something traumatic, and then my dad 275 00:18:48,040 --> 00:18:51,800 Speaker 6: would say I'll be okay, I'll be okay, And that 276 00:18:51,880 --> 00:18:53,000 Speaker 6: happened often. 277 00:18:59,240 --> 00:19:02,480 Speaker 2: For Noaneo also remembers how at home his father always 278 00:19:02,560 --> 00:19:05,400 Speaker 2: kept his war diary on the nightstand. It was small 279 00:19:05,440 --> 00:19:08,119 Speaker 2: and greenish gray, with a red outline of a lion 280 00:19:08,640 --> 00:19:11,840 Speaker 2: and the words a wartime log on the cover. It 281 00:19:11,920 --> 00:19:14,800 Speaker 2: was worn a little beat up, like it belonged inside 282 00:19:14,840 --> 00:19:16,400 Speaker 2: a glass case in some museum. 283 00:19:17,400 --> 00:19:19,960 Speaker 6: He had it at the nightstand at the end of 284 00:19:20,000 --> 00:19:22,480 Speaker 6: the hallway, and it was just sitting there. 285 00:19:23,960 --> 00:19:26,240 Speaker 2: For Fernando and his siblings. It was just an old 286 00:19:26,240 --> 00:19:29,720 Speaker 2: book filled with his father's handwriting, some sketches, and a 287 00:19:29,760 --> 00:19:30,639 Speaker 2: few empty pages. 288 00:19:31,119 --> 00:19:35,040 Speaker 6: Even our older brother kind of doodled in the back 289 00:19:35,080 --> 00:19:38,080 Speaker 6: with crowns. Thankfully we didn't mess up all the really 290 00:19:38,119 --> 00:19:40,760 Speaker 6: important pages. It was in the back where there was 291 00:19:40,840 --> 00:19:42,879 Speaker 6: just blank pages. 292 00:19:43,280 --> 00:19:45,600 Speaker 2: And for a long time the diary just sat there 293 00:19:45,680 --> 00:19:49,800 Speaker 2: on the nightstand, holding Anthony's secrets within its yellow pages 294 00:19:59,600 --> 00:20:01,600 Speaker 2: as in a Fernando took a job at the same 295 00:20:01,640 --> 00:20:05,080 Speaker 2: company as his father, and eventually, during their long commutes, 296 00:20:05,320 --> 00:20:07,360 Speaker 2: his dad told him the story about what he went 297 00:20:07,400 --> 00:20:11,160 Speaker 2: through about world War two about getting captured about Burga, 298 00:20:11,880 --> 00:20:14,240 Speaker 2: but since the story of the soldiers at Burga hadn't 299 00:20:14,240 --> 00:20:17,600 Speaker 2: been officially recognized by the US Army, even though ANTHONYA 300 00:20:17,640 --> 00:20:20,040 Speaker 2: started to talk about it here and there with people 301 00:20:20,080 --> 00:20:23,520 Speaker 2: at work or at the veterans hospital, many didn't believe him. 302 00:20:23,920 --> 00:20:28,240 Speaker 6: Throughout my years, I do remember my father telling me, 303 00:20:28,359 --> 00:20:30,399 Speaker 6: you know, he would shake his head and he felt 304 00:20:30,480 --> 00:20:31,000 Speaker 6: very hurt. 305 00:20:31,080 --> 00:20:32,360 Speaker 5: He was very hurt. 306 00:20:33,359 --> 00:20:38,640 Speaker 6: Even the amount and the extremeness of his PTSD, people 307 00:20:38,680 --> 00:20:39,840 Speaker 6: would even question that. 308 00:20:40,359 --> 00:20:43,439 Speaker 2: Fernando knew his father's story needed to be told and 309 00:20:43,520 --> 00:20:46,159 Speaker 2: wanted to share it on a larger scale. In two 310 00:20:46,200 --> 00:20:48,840 Speaker 2: thousand and six, he reached out to CNN, and two 311 00:20:48,880 --> 00:20:51,480 Speaker 2: years later his father did a public interview. 312 00:20:51,720 --> 00:20:54,880 Speaker 3: He says, I can't believe this. Nobody knows about us. 313 00:20:54,880 --> 00:20:57,720 Speaker 2: At eighty four as all who shares the diary, no 314 00:20:57,720 --> 00:20:59,200 Speaker 2: one was supposed to see. 315 00:20:59,200 --> 00:21:02,560 Speaker 4: Do more of our man died today and while lost 316 00:21:02,800 --> 00:21:06,600 Speaker 4: last night makes three. 317 00:21:08,000 --> 00:21:11,680 Speaker 2: As a result, one man named Martin Vogel found out 318 00:21:11,680 --> 00:21:14,200 Speaker 2: what happened to his brother Jack, who was in Burgo 319 00:21:14,280 --> 00:21:15,920 Speaker 2: with Anthony and died there. 320 00:21:16,440 --> 00:21:18,280 Speaker 7: My brother was a year and a half older than 321 00:21:18,320 --> 00:21:21,280 Speaker 7: I was, but we were very very close. He had 322 00:21:21,320 --> 00:21:25,880 Speaker 7: finished two years of college. The draft board called him 323 00:21:25,920 --> 00:21:29,119 Speaker 7: and said, your name has come up. You have to 324 00:21:29,160 --> 00:21:32,400 Speaker 7: go into the army. And by the time I was eighteen, 325 00:21:32,640 --> 00:21:35,639 Speaker 7: I went into the army, and when I came home 326 00:21:36,080 --> 00:21:39,240 Speaker 7: they told me that my brother had died in a 327 00:21:39,280 --> 00:21:40,560 Speaker 7: prisoner of Rock camp. 328 00:21:41,320 --> 00:21:44,480 Speaker 2: And for sixty three years, Martin had no idea what 329 00:21:44,560 --> 00:21:47,760 Speaker 2: happened to his brother. But when he read that CNN article, 330 00:21:48,200 --> 00:21:50,320 Speaker 2: he saw that Anthony wrote his brother's name and his 331 00:21:50,359 --> 00:21:52,120 Speaker 2: diary as one of the deaths in. 332 00:21:52,080 --> 00:21:56,160 Speaker 5: Berga Vogel, April ninth, nineteen forty five. 333 00:21:56,560 --> 00:21:59,080 Speaker 2: It was the first time, after years of searching, that 334 00:21:59,160 --> 00:22:03,359 Speaker 2: he finally learned about his brother's final moments. His brother 335 00:22:03,440 --> 00:22:13,960 Speaker 2: had died in Anthony's arms. Martin still finds it hard 336 00:22:14,080 --> 00:22:15,160 Speaker 2: to talk about his brother. 337 00:22:15,760 --> 00:22:21,280 Speaker 7: It brings back memories. After all, we only lived here. 338 00:22:21,359 --> 00:22:25,879 Speaker 7: He was nineteen when he went into the service, and 339 00:22:25,920 --> 00:22:29,840 Speaker 7: we had only nineteen years together, so it wasn't that long. 340 00:22:30,160 --> 00:22:34,200 Speaker 7: But we had a wonderful relationship. Just talking about it now, 341 00:22:34,280 --> 00:22:40,040 Speaker 7: I find it difficult to continue a coherent conversation because 342 00:22:40,280 --> 00:22:41,840 Speaker 7: I get so upset. 343 00:22:49,080 --> 00:22:52,639 Speaker 2: Anthony's diary also caught the attention of Kira Schuster, a 344 00:22:52,720 --> 00:22:56,160 Speaker 2: curator at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, who reached 345 00:22:56,160 --> 00:22:57,240 Speaker 2: out to him, and. 346 00:22:57,160 --> 00:22:59,120 Speaker 8: That was a big part of why I did reach 347 00:22:59,160 --> 00:23:02,080 Speaker 8: out to them, because I wanted to see if maybe 348 00:23:02,080 --> 00:23:05,159 Speaker 8: we could acquire his diary for our permanent collection, because 349 00:23:05,200 --> 00:23:09,119 Speaker 8: at that point we had no original artifact in our 350 00:23:09,160 --> 00:23:11,120 Speaker 8: permanent collection from the Burga camp. 351 00:23:11,400 --> 00:23:14,639 Speaker 2: In twenty ten, Anthony and his family visited Washington, d C. 352 00:23:15,200 --> 00:23:18,439 Speaker 2: And he formally donated the items he saved from his captivity, 353 00:23:19,160 --> 00:23:22,720 Speaker 2: a red cross armband, a small palm cross, a Catholic 354 00:23:22,760 --> 00:23:28,080 Speaker 2: prayer book, some personal photographs, and most importantly, his diary. 355 00:23:28,320 --> 00:23:30,679 Speaker 2: The museum has more than two hundred diaries in its collection, 356 00:23:31,280 --> 00:23:34,240 Speaker 2: but this diary, it was the first written by an 357 00:23:34,280 --> 00:23:36,840 Speaker 2: American born survivor of a concentration camp. 358 00:23:37,400 --> 00:23:38,679 Speaker 3: I speak for all my buddies. 359 00:23:38,720 --> 00:23:39,520 Speaker 1: It with her. 360 00:23:40,560 --> 00:23:42,879 Speaker 3: Yeah, I do this with honor. 361 00:23:43,840 --> 00:23:47,119 Speaker 8: I turned this over to. 362 00:23:47,720 --> 00:23:53,719 Speaker 2: The Alacartysium, Kira says. The donation received quite a bit 363 00:23:53,760 --> 00:23:56,439 Speaker 2: of press and led to many other survivors of Berga 364 00:23:56,720 --> 00:24:00,440 Speaker 2: or their families also donating materials, including three other diaries 365 00:24:00,480 --> 00:24:04,040 Speaker 2: from the camp. During his visit, Kira introduced Anthony to 366 00:24:04,119 --> 00:24:07,320 Speaker 2: a Holocaust survivor who was a volunteer at the museum. 367 00:24:07,160 --> 00:24:09,760 Speaker 8: And so I introduced the two of them, and he 368 00:24:09,960 --> 00:24:13,360 Speaker 8: was so taken aback and surprised, and he looked at 369 00:24:13,359 --> 00:24:14,800 Speaker 8: me and he was like, thank you so much for 370 00:24:14,840 --> 00:24:17,840 Speaker 8: introducing me to her. I've never met a Holocaust survivor before. 371 00:24:18,119 --> 00:24:20,440 Speaker 8: And I said, but you're a Holocaust survivor. 372 00:24:26,480 --> 00:24:29,480 Speaker 2: But until that moment, he never thought of it that way. 373 00:24:37,600 --> 00:24:40,360 Speaker 2: It's a sensitive topic. Who should be considered a Holocaust 374 00:24:40,359 --> 00:24:43,520 Speaker 2: survivor and who isn't. So many suffered during the war, 375 00:24:44,359 --> 00:24:47,000 Speaker 2: but the prisoners of war held at the Burga concentration 376 00:24:47,160 --> 00:24:50,800 Speaker 2: Camp were used as slave laborers, and their living conditions 377 00:24:50,840 --> 00:24:54,440 Speaker 2: were so horrific that scholars consider them survivors of the Holocaust. 378 00:24:57,160 --> 00:25:00,760 Speaker 2: Anthony registered as a Holocaust survivor INTOY ten. 379 00:25:01,000 --> 00:25:04,440 Speaker 8: And I can confirm Tony was the first Mexican American 380 00:25:04,480 --> 00:25:12,400 Speaker 8: Catholic Holocaust survivor to register with the museum. 381 00:25:12,560 --> 00:25:16,879 Speaker 2: Anthony Zavedo died on February eleventh, twenty eighteen. He was 382 00:25:17,000 --> 00:25:26,960 Speaker 2: ninety three. Before Anthony shared his story in a big way, 383 00:25:27,520 --> 00:25:30,600 Speaker 2: he visited a local school in California and spoke to 384 00:25:30,640 --> 00:25:33,720 Speaker 2: a group of junior high students about his experience in 385 00:25:33,760 --> 00:25:36,879 Speaker 2: a Nazi concentration camp. It was one of the first 386 00:25:36,880 --> 00:25:39,800 Speaker 2: times he shared a story, and he was taken aback 387 00:25:40,040 --> 00:25:42,920 Speaker 2: that the students they didn't really know anything about the 388 00:25:43,000 --> 00:25:44,320 Speaker 2: soldiers held at Berga. 389 00:25:45,000 --> 00:25:46,359 Speaker 3: You see tears coming down. 390 00:25:47,440 --> 00:25:51,600 Speaker 4: It affects them, but they all say, why didn't my 391 00:25:51,720 --> 00:25:54,720 Speaker 4: father tell me about this? And why did my grandma 392 00:25:54,760 --> 00:25:58,000 Speaker 4: didn't tell me about this? Why didn't the school tell 393 00:25:58,040 --> 00:25:58,720 Speaker 4: us about this? 394 00:26:05,520 --> 00:26:08,399 Speaker 2: Anthony's own story came close to not being included in 395 00:26:08,440 --> 00:26:11,920 Speaker 2: this history until, with the help of a little gray 396 00:26:11,960 --> 00:26:15,320 Speaker 2: green diary and a fountain pen, he wrote himself. 397 00:26:14,960 --> 00:26:26,280 Speaker 1: In In two thousand and nine, a year after Anthony 398 00:26:26,280 --> 00:26:30,280 Speaker 1: did a public interview with CNN, the US Army finally 399 00:26:30,359 --> 00:26:34,119 Speaker 1: recognized the three hundred and fifty soldiers held as prisoners 400 00:26:34,160 --> 00:26:58,879 Speaker 1: at Berga sixty four years later. This episode originally aired 401 00:26:58,880 --> 00:27:01,440 Speaker 1: in May of twenty eighteen. It was produced by Janis 402 00:27:01,520 --> 00:27:05,560 Speaker 1: Jamoca and edited by Annie Aviles. The Latino USA team 403 00:27:05,600 --> 00:27:10,960 Speaker 1: includes Andrea Lopez Cruzado, Marta Martinez, Daisy Contreras, Mike Sargent, 404 00:27:11,119 --> 00:27:16,640 Speaker 1: Julieta Martinelli, Victoria Strada, Rinaldo Leanos Junior Alejandra Sarasa, pat 405 00:27:16,640 --> 00:27:20,400 Speaker 1: Lisa Subran and Julia Rocha, with help from Raoul Perez. 406 00:27:20,720 --> 00:27:25,080 Speaker 1: Our editorial director is Fernanda Santos. Our Director of Engineering 407 00:27:25,280 --> 00:27:28,640 Speaker 1: is Stephanie Lebau. Our senior engineer is Julia Caruso. Our 408 00:27:28,680 --> 00:27:31,840 Speaker 1: associate engineers are gabrie Le Bias and j. J. Krubin. 409 00:27:32,200 --> 00:27:35,640 Speaker 1: Our marketing manager is Lis Luna. Our New York Women's 410 00:27:35,640 --> 00:27:40,040 Speaker 1: Foundation Fellow is Elizabeth Lowenthal Torres. Our theme music is 411 00:27:40,080 --> 00:27:44,080 Speaker 1: composed by Segnor Rubinos. I'm your host and executive producer Mariaojosa. 412 00:27:44,119 --> 00:27:46,239 Speaker 1: Remember finding us on all of your social media and 413 00:27:46,960 --> 00:27:49,280 Speaker 1: don't forget Laeva, Yes Ciao. 414 00:27:52,080 --> 00:27:56,159 Speaker 8: Latino USA is made possible in part by the John D. 415 00:27:56,440 --> 00:27:57,119 Speaker 2: And Catherine T. 416 00:27:57,280 --> 00:28:02,600 Speaker 8: MacArthur Foundation California and building a strong State by improving 417 00:28:02,600 --> 00:28:07,280 Speaker 8: the health of all Californians and the Heising Simons Foundation 418 00:28:08,000 --> 00:28:11,439 Speaker 8: Unlocking knowledge, opportunity and possibilities. 419 00:28:11,960 --> 00:28:14,520 Speaker 2: More at hsfoundation dot org.