1 00:00:15,356 --> 00:00:15,796 Speaker 1: Pushkin. 2 00:00:21,676 --> 00:00:24,716 Speaker 2: It was nineteen fifty one, and a young American serviceman 3 00:00:24,796 --> 00:00:27,796 Speaker 2: named Johnny lay dying on the dirty floor of a 4 00:00:27,876 --> 00:00:31,396 Speaker 2: mud walled hut. He was a prisoner of war, one 5 00:00:31,436 --> 00:00:34,076 Speaker 2: of thousands of US soldiers who had the bad luck 6 00:00:34,116 --> 00:00:36,916 Speaker 2: to be here, a Chinese run camp in the far 7 00:00:37,036 --> 00:00:41,396 Speaker 2: north of Korea. Death was everywhere in the camp, death 8 00:00:41,436 --> 00:00:46,556 Speaker 2: from dysentery and pneumonia and starvation, deaths from untreated battle 9 00:00:46,596 --> 00:00:51,516 Speaker 2: wounds left to faster, and deaths like Johnny, a soldier 10 00:00:51,596 --> 00:00:55,556 Speaker 2: exhausted after months of abuse and captivity, unable to eat 11 00:00:55,796 --> 00:00:59,676 Speaker 2: or move, slowly abandoning the will to live. The other 12 00:00:59,716 --> 00:01:04,756 Speaker 2: POWs called it ghivapitis. There was someone else in the 13 00:01:04,876 --> 00:01:07,876 Speaker 2: room with Johnny, a scrawny twenty one year old soldier 14 00:01:08,116 --> 00:01:10,716 Speaker 2: with a thick head of hair and an even thicker 15 00:01:10,916 --> 00:01:15,076 Speaker 2: Eastern European accent. He knelt beside Johnny and said, the 16 00:01:15,156 --> 00:01:18,876 Speaker 2: Red Cross has just dropped off their newest medicine. I'll 17 00:01:18,876 --> 00:01:21,556 Speaker 2: give it to you, but in turn, you have to 18 00:01:21,556 --> 00:01:25,316 Speaker 2: pull yourself together. You can't give up. Then he gave 19 00:01:25,396 --> 00:01:30,316 Speaker 2: Johnny a small brown pill. The other prisoners in the 20 00:01:30,316 --> 00:01:32,956 Speaker 2: camp had noticed this man with the medicine. Something was 21 00:01:32,996 --> 00:01:36,236 Speaker 2: different about him. When they couldn't stand up and were 22 00:01:36,276 --> 00:01:39,396 Speaker 2: lying in their own filth, he washed them clean. He 23 00:01:39,476 --> 00:01:42,196 Speaker 2: picked the light off them when they couldn't do it themselves. 24 00:01:42,516 --> 00:01:45,076 Speaker 2: He sneaked bits of food to men who were dying 25 00:01:45,116 --> 00:01:48,996 Speaker 2: of hunger, and he made them smile. He cracked jokes 26 00:01:49,116 --> 00:01:51,796 Speaker 2: and clowned around. He reminded them of the great life 27 00:01:51,836 --> 00:01:54,916 Speaker 2: waiting for them back home in America. They just had 28 00:01:54,956 --> 00:01:58,636 Speaker 2: to live long enough to make it there. That guy 29 00:01:58,676 --> 00:02:02,116 Speaker 2: with the accent wasn't a doctor, or a clergyman, or 30 00:02:02,156 --> 00:02:05,756 Speaker 2: even an officer. He didn't have any influence or special training. 31 00:02:06,276 --> 00:02:10,436 Speaker 2: What he did have was experience, experience in a camp 32 00:02:10,636 --> 00:02:13,876 Speaker 2: even worse than this one, a place he'd lived when 33 00:02:13,916 --> 00:02:17,316 Speaker 2: he was just fourteen years old, a Nazi death can 34 00:02:20,436 --> 00:02:23,156 Speaker 2: I'm Malcolm Gladwell and this is Medal of Honor Stories 35 00:02:23,196 --> 00:02:26,716 Speaker 2: of Courage. The Medal of Honor is the highest military 36 00:02:26,756 --> 00:02:31,316 Speaker 2: decoration in the United States, awarded for gallantry and bravery 37 00:02:31,396 --> 00:02:33,996 Speaker 2: in combat at the risk of life, above and beyond 38 00:02:33,996 --> 00:02:37,636 Speaker 2: the call of duty. Each candidate must be approved all 39 00:02:37,676 --> 00:02:40,276 Speaker 2: the way up the chain of command, from the supervisory 40 00:02:40,316 --> 00:02:43,916 Speaker 2: officer in the field to the White House This show 41 00:02:44,436 --> 00:02:47,556 Speaker 2: is about those heroes, what they did, what it meant, 42 00:02:47,956 --> 00:02:50,676 Speaker 2: and what their stories tell us about the nature of 43 00:02:50,796 --> 00:02:56,636 Speaker 2: courage and sacrifice. Today's episode is about Taibor Rubin, the 44 00:02:56,676 --> 00:03:00,316 Speaker 2: only Holocaust survivor to win the Medal of Honor. His 45 00:03:00,396 --> 00:03:03,916 Speaker 2: story is about more than courage and bravery. It's about 46 00:03:03,956 --> 00:03:08,436 Speaker 2: compassion and the simple truth that sometimes hope is the 47 00:03:08,476 --> 00:03:30,276 Speaker 2: most powerful defense we have. Tybar Ruben was born in 48 00:03:30,356 --> 00:03:33,716 Speaker 2: nineteen twenty nine in a small town in Hungary. He 49 00:03:33,796 --> 00:03:37,156 Speaker 2: had a loving family with four older siblings and a 50 00:03:37,196 --> 00:03:40,556 Speaker 2: little sister. He adored parents, who took care of him 51 00:03:40,676 --> 00:03:43,196 Speaker 2: a nice house. As a kid, he was always getting 52 00:03:43,196 --> 00:03:47,316 Speaker 2: into scrapes, playing soccer with his big brother Emory, typical 53 00:03:47,396 --> 00:03:50,996 Speaker 2: kid stuff. It wasn't fancy, but life was pretty good, 54 00:03:52,116 --> 00:03:55,876 Speaker 2: except that Taibor was Jewish and the Third Reich was 55 00:03:55,876 --> 00:03:59,196 Speaker 2: on the rise in nearby Germany. By the end of 56 00:03:59,236 --> 00:04:03,876 Speaker 2: the nineteen thirties, the Hungarian government had begun emulating the Nazis, 57 00:04:04,436 --> 00:04:07,676 Speaker 2: denying Jews equal rights under the law. There were jobs 58 00:04:07,756 --> 00:04:12,156 Speaker 2: they couldn't hold. I didn't marry Christians. Then in nineteen forty 59 00:04:12,596 --> 00:04:17,596 Speaker 2: Hungary formally joined the Axis Alliance. Even so, Hungarian Jews 60 00:04:17,676 --> 00:04:21,396 Speaker 2: were more protected than Jews in other access countries. The 61 00:04:21,436 --> 00:04:25,756 Speaker 2: government refused to deport its Jewish citizens to concentration camps, 62 00:04:25,916 --> 00:04:30,356 Speaker 2: despite pressure from their Nazi allies, so the Ruben family 63 00:04:30,476 --> 00:04:34,636 Speaker 2: felt relatively safe in their home country, even as things turned. 64 00:04:35,356 --> 00:04:38,756 Speaker 2: After all, Tiber's father was a decorated soldier of the 65 00:04:38,796 --> 00:04:41,676 Speaker 2: First World War. He was a patriot. More than that, 66 00:04:42,076 --> 00:04:46,236 Speaker 2: the Rubens believed in the essential goodness of people. They 67 00:04:46,276 --> 00:04:50,476 Speaker 2: taught Tibor and his siblings to act with compassion, even 68 00:04:50,516 --> 00:04:54,476 Speaker 2: when everything in his life argued against it. Tiber never 69 00:04:54,596 --> 00:04:58,396 Speaker 2: let go of that lesson. Here he is talking about 70 00:04:58,436 --> 00:05:00,836 Speaker 2: them in that super thick Hungarian accent. 71 00:05:00,876 --> 00:05:03,916 Speaker 3: I told you about I might ever seen used to 72 00:05:04,116 --> 00:05:09,156 Speaker 3: all these stylars. Don't say anything bad about anybody. You 73 00:05:09,196 --> 00:05:13,956 Speaker 3: don't know anything good. You don't ever hurt anybody because 74 00:05:14,116 --> 00:05:17,516 Speaker 3: maybe we have a different religion. But according to the 75 00:05:17,516 --> 00:05:21,996 Speaker 3: good Lord that's your brothers. 76 00:05:21,916 --> 00:05:26,236 Speaker 2: Everything changed. In March of nineteen forty four, the Nazis 77 00:05:26,276 --> 00:05:30,196 Speaker 2: seized power in Hungary. Almost immediately, plans were drawn up 78 00:05:30,356 --> 00:05:33,556 Speaker 2: for the transportation of the country's Jews, about half a 79 00:05:33,596 --> 00:05:38,996 Speaker 2: million people, to extermination camps. The Hungarian authorities didn't stand 80 00:05:39,036 --> 00:05:41,516 Speaker 2: in the way of the plan, and as the Nazis 81 00:05:41,596 --> 00:05:44,676 Speaker 2: began rounding up Jews or just killing them on the spot, 82 00:05:45,276 --> 00:05:48,596 Speaker 2: it became clear that the world wasn't working according to 83 00:05:48,636 --> 00:05:54,116 Speaker 2: the Reuben family values. Soon Taibar was hearing whispered conversations 84 00:05:54,156 --> 00:05:58,116 Speaker 2: between his parents. Refugees were coming through their little village 85 00:05:58,316 --> 00:06:02,196 Speaker 2: on the run from the Nazis. The world was getting darker. 86 00:06:03,756 --> 00:06:06,676 Speaker 2: Emory was twenty, and their parents worried he would be 87 00:06:06,716 --> 00:06:10,356 Speaker 2: pressed into military service, so this sent him across the 88 00:06:10,356 --> 00:06:14,556 Speaker 2: border to Czechoslovakia, where an aunt lived. She had arranged 89 00:06:14,556 --> 00:06:17,236 Speaker 2: for Emory to hide with a friend who was a gentile. 90 00:06:17,916 --> 00:06:21,196 Speaker 2: Tiber worshiped his brother and was paniced to watch him go, 91 00:06:21,596 --> 00:06:25,716 Speaker 2: but Emory promised Tiber he'd be back soon. Just a 92 00:06:25,756 --> 00:06:28,556 Speaker 2: few months later, a group of Polish men were passing 93 00:06:28,556 --> 00:06:32,516 Speaker 2: through town on the run for Switzerland. Tiber's parents met 94 00:06:32,516 --> 00:06:36,556 Speaker 2: with the men and made a wrenching decision Tiber should 95 00:06:36,676 --> 00:06:39,996 Speaker 2: leave with them. He had to try to escape what 96 00:06:40,116 --> 00:06:42,996 Speaker 2: was coming. They sent their son off with a group 97 00:06:43,036 --> 00:06:47,276 Speaker 2: of total strangers. They were that desperate to save him. 98 00:06:47,716 --> 00:06:53,316 Speaker 2: Tiber was fourteen. After days of trekking, the group reached 99 00:06:53,356 --> 00:06:56,396 Speaker 2: the Swiss border, only to be captured by the Nazis. 100 00:06:56,996 --> 00:07:01,636 Speaker 2: They were sent to a concentration camp named Matausen in Austria. 101 00:07:02,676 --> 00:07:05,716 Speaker 2: It looked like a stone fortress on a hill. It 102 00:07:05,716 --> 00:07:09,316 Speaker 2: had been constructed carefully, not just to house Jews, but 103 00:07:09,436 --> 00:07:14,676 Speaker 2: political prisoners, conscientious objectors, enemy soldiers from almost every country 104 00:07:14,916 --> 00:07:18,556 Speaker 2: in German occupied Europe. It had some of the harshest 105 00:07:18,636 --> 00:07:22,796 Speaker 2: conditions and one of the highest death rates of any 106 00:07:23,396 --> 00:07:26,756 Speaker 2: of the Nazi camps. I don't need to tell you 107 00:07:26,876 --> 00:07:30,876 Speaker 2: how bad concentration camps were. No food, no hope, hard 108 00:07:30,916 --> 00:07:34,716 Speaker 2: labor guards who would shoot inmates for sport. The living 109 00:07:34,876 --> 00:07:38,996 Speaker 2: and the dying crammed into the same putrid spaces. Tiber 110 00:07:39,196 --> 00:07:41,956 Speaker 2: was just a terrified kid when he arrived at the camp. 111 00:07:42,076 --> 00:07:45,796 Speaker 2: An SS officer told him none of you Jews will 112 00:07:45,796 --> 00:07:46,796 Speaker 2: make it out of here alive. 113 00:07:47,836 --> 00:07:52,076 Speaker 3: So many people died there every day, for so many people, 114 00:07:52,356 --> 00:07:56,916 Speaker 3: mountain of people dead. They didn't even have time to 115 00:07:56,956 --> 00:08:00,916 Speaker 3: burn them. You know, the life over. There was no future, 116 00:08:01,556 --> 00:08:04,916 Speaker 3: nothing to look forward. Just then I gonna be next. 117 00:08:06,236 --> 00:08:09,916 Speaker 2: But Tiber was smart and resourceful and learned the ways 118 00:08:09,916 --> 00:08:12,556 Speaker 2: of the camp. One prisoner taught him to pick the 119 00:08:12,636 --> 00:08:15,956 Speaker 2: lice off every single day so he wouldn't get typhus. 120 00:08:16,596 --> 00:08:19,196 Speaker 2: When Tiber got sick from the rotted potatoes and dirty 121 00:08:19,196 --> 00:08:21,636 Speaker 2: water they were feeding him, a man in his bunk 122 00:08:21,716 --> 00:08:25,516 Speaker 2: made him eat charcoal to settle his stomach. The Polish 123 00:08:25,596 --> 00:08:27,996 Speaker 2: guys he had traveled with showed him how to steal 124 00:08:28,076 --> 00:08:31,316 Speaker 2: food from the officer's garbage dump. He thought of himself 125 00:08:31,516 --> 00:08:35,156 Speaker 2: like a rat, cunning, quick and silent, doing whatever he 126 00:08:35,196 --> 00:08:35,996 Speaker 2: could to survive. 127 00:08:36,796 --> 00:08:38,916 Speaker 1: We rush an't no human beIN anymore. 128 00:08:39,916 --> 00:08:43,996 Speaker 2: He tried not to make connections with other prisoners. Friendships 129 00:08:44,196 --> 00:08:48,236 Speaker 2: felt dangerous. Other teenagers could be unruly and get them 130 00:08:48,276 --> 00:08:52,356 Speaker 2: all into trouble. Plus the friends he made seemed inevitably 131 00:08:52,716 --> 00:08:56,596 Speaker 2: to die, even in the crowded bunk rooms. He became 132 00:08:56,676 --> 00:09:05,036 Speaker 2: more and more isolated alone. Then one evening, during roll call, 133 00:09:05,556 --> 00:09:09,956 Speaker 2: he saw a familiar face across the prison yard. Tiber stared. 134 00:09:10,636 --> 00:09:14,356 Speaker 2: He couldn't believe it. It was his brother, Emery. He 135 00:09:14,436 --> 00:09:16,956 Speaker 2: pushed his way through the other prisoners to get to him. 136 00:09:17,236 --> 00:09:20,556 Speaker 2: Emory and Tiber hugged. They held hands all through that 137 00:09:20,676 --> 00:09:24,716 Speaker 2: role call. It seemed like a miracle. Tiber felt like 138 00:09:24,796 --> 00:09:27,876 Speaker 2: he knew who he was again. A little bit of 139 00:09:27,916 --> 00:09:33,396 Speaker 2: his humanity was restored. Emory had been caught in Czechoslovakia 140 00:09:33,596 --> 00:09:37,956 Speaker 2: and had spent months doing forced hard labor. Then, without warning, 141 00:09:38,516 --> 00:09:41,836 Speaker 2: he'd been loaded on a train to Matthausen. Emory was 142 00:09:41,876 --> 00:09:44,836 Speaker 2: assigned to a different barracks than Tybor, and because he 143 00:09:44,916 --> 00:09:48,436 Speaker 2: was a carpenter, he was often sent on construction projects 144 00:09:48,636 --> 00:09:53,116 Speaker 2: outside Mathausen itself. The brothers rarely saw each other, but 145 00:09:53,316 --> 00:09:57,836 Speaker 2: just knowing Emory was there reminded Tibor that he was loved, 146 00:09:58,236 --> 00:10:04,076 Speaker 2: and that kept him going. The famous Viennese psychiatrist and 147 00:10:04,156 --> 00:10:08,916 Speaker 2: Auschwitz survivor Victor Frankel would later write about this exact phenomenon. 148 00:10:09,476 --> 00:10:12,076 Speaker 2: He said that those in the death camps who lost 149 00:10:12,116 --> 00:10:14,596 Speaker 2: their faith in the future would die a kind of 150 00:10:14,636 --> 00:10:19,036 Speaker 2: emotional death. The loss of hope would hasten the loss 151 00:10:19,036 --> 00:10:21,716 Speaker 2: of the will to live. He wrote that it was 152 00:10:21,796 --> 00:10:26,836 Speaker 2: quote possible to practice the art of living even in 153 00:10:26,876 --> 00:10:30,556 Speaker 2: a concentration camp. Frankel believed that if we react to 154 00:10:30,636 --> 00:10:36,676 Speaker 2: terrible circumstances with courage and kindness and unselfishness, then life 155 00:10:36,756 --> 00:10:40,076 Speaker 2: can take on a deeper meaning, even in the face 156 00:10:40,116 --> 00:10:45,676 Speaker 2: of inhumanity. Emory's arrival was at Beacon of Hope for Tibor. 157 00:10:46,316 --> 00:10:49,116 Speaker 2: He held on to it and to the lesson. It 158 00:10:49,196 --> 00:10:56,236 Speaker 2: taught him that faith in the future was powerful. Tiber 159 00:10:56,396 --> 00:10:59,516 Speaker 2: was in Matthausen for more than a year, amidst the death, 160 00:10:59,956 --> 00:11:05,036 Speaker 2: hatred and Squalor. Winter was viciously cold, and the prisoners 161 00:11:05,156 --> 00:11:07,396 Speaker 2: were dressed in rags that didn't keep out the chill. 162 00:11:08,076 --> 00:11:11,556 Speaker 2: They stood in the snow oh shivering while their captors 163 00:11:11,596 --> 00:11:15,716 Speaker 2: did roll call. Everyone was starving. They would sleep squeeze 164 00:11:15,756 --> 00:11:19,596 Speaker 2: next to each other like sardines. Often they would wake 165 00:11:19,676 --> 00:11:21,996 Speaker 2: up next to someone who had died in the night. 166 00:11:22,956 --> 00:11:28,556 Speaker 2: That's where Tiber turned fifteen. Time ground on, But then 167 00:11:28,876 --> 00:11:33,036 Speaker 2: Tiber started to hear whispers, rumors spreading. The Germans were 168 00:11:33,076 --> 00:11:36,036 Speaker 2: losing the war. The Allies were on the way, but 169 00:11:36,116 --> 00:11:39,756 Speaker 2: Tiber wasn't sure what to believe. Until one day, in 170 00:11:39,796 --> 00:11:43,116 Speaker 2: a palenteen forty five, the prisoners heard the drone of 171 00:11:43,156 --> 00:11:47,476 Speaker 2: Allied plains overhead work at the camp ground to a halt. 172 00:11:47,676 --> 00:11:50,556 Speaker 2: As first some then all of the Sas commands started 173 00:11:50,596 --> 00:11:53,396 Speaker 2: to flee. They had tried to destroy evidence of what 174 00:11:53,436 --> 00:11:57,156 Speaker 2: they had done, dismantling the installations for mass killing and 175 00:11:57,276 --> 00:12:04,436 Speaker 2: burning incriminating documents. By May third, the German soldiers were gone. 176 00:12:04,516 --> 00:12:07,796 Speaker 2: Two days later, the inmates heard the rattle of tanks. 177 00:12:08,476 --> 00:12:10,356 Speaker 2: The Americans had arrived. 178 00:12:11,236 --> 00:12:16,396 Speaker 3: One day, five tanks showed up that bregg down the gate. 179 00:12:17,036 --> 00:12:21,716 Speaker 3: When we see the American troops in, everybody was crying 180 00:12:22,396 --> 00:12:25,116 Speaker 3: the paper and the kids their feet. 181 00:12:25,596 --> 00:12:27,516 Speaker 1: We called them the gi Josh. 182 00:12:28,876 --> 00:12:31,476 Speaker 2: One of the soldiers who was there that day remembered 183 00:12:31,516 --> 00:12:33,996 Speaker 2: what it was like to liberate the camp. His name 184 00:12:34,076 --> 00:12:37,516 Speaker 2: was Charles Sandler. He was in the eleventh Armored Division 185 00:12:37,676 --> 00:12:40,756 Speaker 2: of the US Army. Here he is talking about his 186 00:12:40,836 --> 00:12:44,196 Speaker 2: experiences in an interview from the nineteen eighties. 187 00:12:45,036 --> 00:12:48,836 Speaker 4: After picture, there huge monument. This was not just a shack. 188 00:12:49,596 --> 00:12:53,756 Speaker 4: Mauthhausen Camp proper was like a huge castle on a 189 00:12:53,876 --> 00:12:58,156 Speaker 4: high ground, a very permanent, but order concentration camp. I'd 190 00:12:58,196 --> 00:13:00,996 Speaker 4: say it was a beautiful structure. As we approached, one 191 00:13:00,996 --> 00:13:07,636 Speaker 4: of the strongest impressions, which I still very clearly recall, 192 00:13:08,556 --> 00:13:11,276 Speaker 4: was that of the scentse What we smell was the 193 00:13:11,356 --> 00:13:16,916 Speaker 4: smell of death, of bodies rotting, hundreds of bodies stacked 194 00:13:16,956 --> 00:13:20,716 Speaker 4: like cord wood, bodies still in the crematoria. 195 00:13:21,916 --> 00:13:24,756 Speaker 2: The prisoners at least those who were strong enough to 196 00:13:24,796 --> 00:13:26,756 Speaker 2: stand greeted the army with. 197 00:13:26,756 --> 00:13:33,636 Speaker 4: Elation, well with unmistakable just never to be forgotten joy 198 00:13:33,716 --> 00:13:37,956 Speaker 4: and screaming and hollering, and the gates were open. After 199 00:13:38,076 --> 00:13:43,596 Speaker 4: picture a situation of fifteen thousand souls that were just 200 00:13:43,716 --> 00:13:49,556 Speaker 4: beyond description, starving, beaten, abused, and they just wanted to 201 00:13:49,596 --> 00:13:52,276 Speaker 4: break out a captivity. I could have been elected anything 202 00:13:52,316 --> 00:13:55,796 Speaker 4: that day I will never forget, and they're always grateful 203 00:13:55,796 --> 00:14:00,236 Speaker 4: that I had that opportunity of performing that small service. 204 00:14:01,516 --> 00:14:04,716 Speaker 2: What Tiber noticed about the American soldiers was that they 205 00:14:04,756 --> 00:14:08,516 Speaker 2: were more than fighters. He couldn't believe how kind and 206 00:14:08,556 --> 00:14:12,036 Speaker 2: compassion that they were. They gave life, they weren't just 207 00:14:12,076 --> 00:14:12,796 Speaker 2: taking it away. 208 00:14:13,636 --> 00:14:18,436 Speaker 3: The medic pick us up filthy stink. They have to 209 00:14:18,676 --> 00:14:21,316 Speaker 3: wash us and clean us, and to take care of 210 00:14:21,396 --> 00:14:24,836 Speaker 3: was unbelievable. This was something you'll never forget. 211 00:14:26,516 --> 00:14:30,196 Speaker 2: Tiber and Emory were skin and bones days away from death, 212 00:14:30,596 --> 00:14:33,436 Speaker 2: but the Reuben brothers were two of the lucky ones. 213 00:14:34,236 --> 00:14:38,636 Speaker 2: At least ninety five thousand people had died in Mohausen. 214 00:14:39,196 --> 00:14:42,556 Speaker 2: Tiber and Emory returned home to their tiny town in Hungary. 215 00:14:43,596 --> 00:14:46,836 Speaker 2: Their sister Irene had survived as well, and she found 216 00:14:46,916 --> 00:14:50,996 Speaker 2: them there. Of the one hundred and twenty Jewish families 217 00:14:51,036 --> 00:14:57,676 Speaker 2: in their town, members of just three had returned. Among 218 00:14:57,676 --> 00:15:01,196 Speaker 2: the missing were Tiber's parents and his little sister, who 219 00:15:01,196 --> 00:15:05,716 Speaker 2: had been only ten. Eventually, Emory told Tiber the news 220 00:15:06,356 --> 00:15:10,156 Speaker 2: all three of them had been murdered at Auschwitz. When 221 00:15:10,196 --> 00:15:12,876 Speaker 2: they divided the prisoners who could work from the ones 222 00:15:12,876 --> 00:15:16,396 Speaker 2: who would immediately be killed. Tiber's mother had insisted on 223 00:15:16,476 --> 00:15:20,036 Speaker 2: accompanying his little sister to the gash chamber. She didn't 224 00:15:20,076 --> 00:15:29,676 Speaker 2: want her to die alone. His mother's sacrifice the American 225 00:15:29,756 --> 00:15:35,196 Speaker 2: gis both set Tiber on his life's course of holding 226 00:15:35,316 --> 00:15:40,316 Speaker 2: fast to what makes us human, even when inhumanity surrounds us. 227 00:15:41,716 --> 00:15:45,356 Speaker 2: Hungary was occupied by the Russians, and the Reuben's siblings 228 00:15:45,516 --> 00:15:47,876 Speaker 2: got out of the country as fast as they possibly 229 00:15:47,916 --> 00:15:51,236 Speaker 2: could before the borders closed. They made it to a 230 00:15:51,276 --> 00:15:54,116 Speaker 2: camp for displaced persons that was run by the United 231 00:15:54,196 --> 00:15:59,076 Speaker 2: Nations and the US Army. Tiber spent three years there 232 00:15:59,156 --> 00:16:02,516 Speaker 2: before he finally got his wish permission to move to 233 00:16:02,556 --> 00:16:06,996 Speaker 2: the United States. In neen forty eight, he boarded a 234 00:16:06,996 --> 00:16:10,596 Speaker 2: boat to New York. As the ship entered the harbor, 235 00:16:11,116 --> 00:16:14,556 Speaker 2: Tiber went to the deck to see the Manhattan skyline. 236 00:16:14,636 --> 00:16:18,876 Speaker 2: He opened his suitcase, and in a grand gesture, he 237 00:16:18,956 --> 00:16:23,036 Speaker 2: threw his clothes from the old Country overboard. He watched 238 00:16:23,036 --> 00:16:26,036 Speaker 2: them flutter down into the water. He was going to 239 00:16:26,076 --> 00:16:32,156 Speaker 2: start fresh. Hope had sustained him in Mahausen and in 240 00:16:32,236 --> 00:16:35,156 Speaker 2: the camps as he waited to start this new life. 241 00:16:35,716 --> 00:16:39,036 Speaker 2: Or other survivors of the war might have bitterness or regret, 242 00:16:39,556 --> 00:16:44,596 Speaker 2: Tiber instead had an unflappable optimism, faith in the future, 243 00:16:45,516 --> 00:16:48,956 Speaker 2: and grand plans for his new life in the United States. 244 00:16:50,356 --> 00:16:52,396 Speaker 2: Once he was there, he was going to fulfill a 245 00:16:52,476 --> 00:16:55,756 Speaker 2: vow he'd made the day the American soldiers liberated Mauthausen. 246 00:16:56,716 --> 00:16:59,396 Speaker 3: I made the promise if Lord helped me, if I 247 00:16:59,476 --> 00:17:02,996 Speaker 3: ever go to America, I'm going to become a Geigel. 248 00:17:21,996 --> 00:17:26,636 Speaker 2: Fast forward a couple of years. Tiber was twenty. I'm 249 00:17:26,636 --> 00:17:28,036 Speaker 2: going to take a second here to tell you what 250 00:17:28,116 --> 00:17:30,476 Speaker 2: he looked like so you can get a mental picture. 251 00:17:31,076 --> 00:17:34,316 Speaker 2: He wasn't a super tall guy. A puberty spent eating 252 00:17:34,316 --> 00:17:37,556 Speaker 2: dirty scraps and moldy bread will mess with your growth spurt. 253 00:17:38,116 --> 00:17:40,916 Speaker 2: But he looked like a movie star, like a young 254 00:17:41,236 --> 00:17:44,836 Speaker 2: Marlon Branda. He had gotten a series of jobs once 255 00:17:44,836 --> 00:17:47,796 Speaker 2: he settled in Manhattan. He worked at a garment factory 256 00:17:47,916 --> 00:17:50,876 Speaker 2: and in a slaughterhouse briefly. Then he got hired in 257 00:17:50,956 --> 00:17:55,036 Speaker 2: a fancy grocery store on Broadway. He couldn't really speak English, 258 00:17:55,236 --> 00:17:57,836 Speaker 2: but he charmed the ladies and buying whatever he was selling. 259 00:17:58,276 --> 00:18:01,316 Speaker 2: He was an outrageous flirt, and right around this time 260 00:18:01,756 --> 00:18:05,556 Speaker 2: he changed his name to the very American Ted. 261 00:18:06,276 --> 00:18:08,956 Speaker 1: So I was in heaven. It's Loise Elmetti. 262 00:18:11,156 --> 00:18:13,676 Speaker 2: Ted hadn't forgotten about his vow to join the army. 263 00:18:14,036 --> 00:18:16,876 Speaker 2: In fact, he kept trying to join, but he kept 264 00:18:16,876 --> 00:18:20,516 Speaker 2: failing the admissions test. He tried in New York twice, 265 00:18:20,876 --> 00:18:23,396 Speaker 2: and then in the fall of nineteen forty nine, Ted 266 00:18:23,516 --> 00:18:28,756 Speaker 2: moved west, ever optimistic about finding more opportunity. He settled 267 00:18:28,836 --> 00:18:32,396 Speaker 2: in Oakland, California, where he went to the Army recruitment 268 00:18:32,436 --> 00:18:37,756 Speaker 2: office again, and there he finally passed the entrance exam 269 00:18:37,996 --> 00:18:41,996 Speaker 2: on his third try. He might have had a little 270 00:18:42,036 --> 00:18:45,716 Speaker 2: extra help, not saying he cheated, but he could talk 271 00:18:45,756 --> 00:18:49,996 Speaker 2: his way into pretty much anything, even in his broken English. 272 00:18:50,036 --> 00:18:53,716 Speaker 2: He qualified for a sharpshooter badge, and his unit was 273 00:18:53,756 --> 00:18:57,956 Speaker 2: sent to Okinawa for training, and then war was declared 274 00:18:57,996 --> 00:19:01,276 Speaker 2: in Korea. The troops got ready to ship out for combat, 275 00:19:01,476 --> 00:19:04,196 Speaker 2: but the captain told Ted he couldn't go with them 276 00:19:04,516 --> 00:19:07,196 Speaker 2: because he wasn't a US citizen yet he had to 277 00:19:07,236 --> 00:19:08,756 Speaker 2: go to a safe zone instead. 278 00:19:09,676 --> 00:19:12,956 Speaker 3: He says, Captain, I cannot go, and he save his 279 00:19:13,036 --> 00:19:16,276 Speaker 3: own because I made the promise, and when I make 280 00:19:16,356 --> 00:19:19,356 Speaker 3: a promise, I have to keep it. You say you 281 00:19:19,436 --> 00:19:23,156 Speaker 3: are your mind. I say, yes, have to go because 282 00:19:23,196 --> 00:19:28,876 Speaker 3: I owed him to. The soldiers liberated me, saved my life. 283 00:19:28,996 --> 00:19:32,716 Speaker 3: I was going to Korea with the regiment and I did. 284 00:19:35,276 --> 00:19:38,796 Speaker 2: So. Ted had asked willingly to be sent with his 285 00:19:38,916 --> 00:19:42,556 Speaker 2: unit to a war zone, and once he arrived in Korea, 286 00:19:42,956 --> 00:19:45,396 Speaker 2: he got way more than his fair share of danger. 287 00:19:46,236 --> 00:19:49,716 Speaker 2: This was because of one guy. We're gonna call him 288 00:19:49,996 --> 00:19:54,196 Speaker 2: Sgeant A. In interviews, Ted never wanted to give this 289 00:19:54,236 --> 00:19:57,756 Speaker 2: guy's real name. It's there in his service records, but 290 00:19:57,836 --> 00:20:01,076 Speaker 2: it was important to Ted that he never identified him. 291 00:20:01,476 --> 00:20:04,156 Speaker 3: I don't mention any name, because you said this is 292 00:20:04,716 --> 00:20:08,596 Speaker 3: the man is dead. He cannot hurt me anymore. So 293 00:20:09,396 --> 00:20:10,396 Speaker 3: mentioned his name. 294 00:20:11,556 --> 00:20:15,196 Speaker 2: I'm going to respect Ted's wishes. Just trust me that 295 00:20:15,316 --> 00:20:21,436 Speaker 2: Sergeant A. Was a real person. Unfortunately, Sergeant A was 296 00:20:21,436 --> 00:20:24,636 Speaker 2: a foul mouthed World War II that from Texas and 297 00:20:24,756 --> 00:20:28,836 Speaker 2: an equal opportunity bigot. He hated the South Korean troops 298 00:20:28,876 --> 00:20:35,076 Speaker 2: who were serving alongside the Americans. He hated black people, Mexicans, Italians, 299 00:20:35,876 --> 00:20:38,316 Speaker 2: though fortunately for those folks none of them were assigned 300 00:20:38,316 --> 00:20:42,596 Speaker 2: to his company, and Sergeant A really hated Jews. He 301 00:20:42,676 --> 00:20:45,116 Speaker 2: couldn't believe that he had the bad luck to get 302 00:20:45,156 --> 00:20:46,796 Speaker 2: Ted assigned to his unit. 303 00:20:47,516 --> 00:20:50,796 Speaker 3: He said, no, the US would be coming here to 304 00:20:50,876 --> 00:20:54,996 Speaker 3: fight a war. I said, well, you're looking one of 305 00:20:55,036 --> 00:20:58,396 Speaker 3: them because I'm here, So you see that. To me, there, 306 00:20:58,396 --> 00:21:01,596 Speaker 3: you are a stupid as saroma, bitch, fucking jew I 307 00:21:01,636 --> 00:21:04,156 Speaker 3: ever met. All of a sudden, I say, I have 308 00:21:04,316 --> 00:21:07,676 Speaker 3: to show to him, I'm gonna be as good as him. 309 00:21:08,476 --> 00:21:12,396 Speaker 2: This is exactly five thousand of Ted's refusal to let 310 00:21:12,436 --> 00:21:17,236 Speaker 2: hatred chip away at his essential faith in humanity. One day, 311 00:21:17,516 --> 00:21:20,516 Speaker 2: his company was ordered to join a formation several miles 312 00:21:20,556 --> 00:21:23,516 Speaker 2: to the south. The enemy was coming their way and 313 00:21:23,556 --> 00:21:26,556 Speaker 2: they needed to move to a safer location. There was 314 00:21:26,596 --> 00:21:29,796 Speaker 2: a problem. They had more AMMO than they could transport. 315 00:21:30,276 --> 00:21:33,276 Speaker 2: They needed to travel to the next position get some 316 00:21:33,356 --> 00:21:38,076 Speaker 2: trucks and drive back to pick it up. Sergeant A yelled, 317 00:21:38,676 --> 00:21:40,676 Speaker 2: find me the Hungarian. 318 00:21:40,836 --> 00:21:43,476 Speaker 3: And he said that we have a lot of ammunition 319 00:21:43,716 --> 00:21:49,156 Speaker 3: and rappens and everything. You're gonna be a guard and 320 00:21:49,276 --> 00:21:51,356 Speaker 3: if she if we're gonna come back and pick it up. 321 00:21:52,796 --> 00:21:56,196 Speaker 2: Ted was being left behind alone on top of a ridge, 322 00:21:56,436 --> 00:21:58,796 Speaker 2: a ridge that was the only thing standing between the 323 00:21:58,876 --> 00:22:02,596 Speaker 2: approaching enemy and the US troops. He was supposed to 324 00:22:02,676 --> 00:22:07,516 Speaker 2: wait there and guard a giant pile of weapons by himself. 325 00:22:08,596 --> 00:22:11,156 Speaker 2: This was not a good situation. It was obvious to 326 00:22:11,196 --> 00:22:13,996 Speaker 2: everyone a single man wouldn't be able to keep an 327 00:22:14,076 --> 00:22:18,236 Speaker 2: enemy patrol from taking the ammunition or from advancing on 328 00:22:18,316 --> 00:22:22,876 Speaker 2: the company's new position. But Ted couldn't and wouldn't say no, 329 00:22:23,476 --> 00:22:26,036 Speaker 2: and Sergeant A promised they would be back to get 330 00:22:26,116 --> 00:22:29,076 Speaker 2: him before dark. Then the company packed. 331 00:22:28,876 --> 00:22:29,476 Speaker 1: Up and left. 332 00:22:30,116 --> 00:22:34,316 Speaker 2: The hours ticked by, the shadows grew longer. Ted kept 333 00:22:34,356 --> 00:22:37,556 Speaker 2: looking at his watch, kept waiting, hoping to hear the 334 00:22:37,636 --> 00:22:45,116 Speaker 2: rattle of trucks. Then it was dark. By midnight, it 335 00:22:45,156 --> 00:22:48,276 Speaker 2: was clear to Ted that the trucks weren't coming, and 336 00:22:48,356 --> 00:22:51,636 Speaker 2: he realized an entire enemy company could get to the 337 00:22:51,676 --> 00:22:54,636 Speaker 2: top of this ridge. In a matter of minutes, it 338 00:22:54,676 --> 00:22:58,996 Speaker 2: will be dozens against just him. To anyone else, the 339 00:22:59,036 --> 00:23:01,516 Speaker 2: situation would have seemed truly hopeless. 340 00:23:01,836 --> 00:23:02,316 Speaker 1: Not Ted. 341 00:23:03,076 --> 00:23:06,396 Speaker 2: He looked at the giant pile of ammunition and started 342 00:23:06,436 --> 00:23:09,116 Speaker 2: squirreling grenades into the foxholes along the ridge. 343 00:23:10,076 --> 00:23:11,836 Speaker 1: Then I have my m one rifle. 344 00:23:12,316 --> 00:23:15,356 Speaker 3: I lowered them down, a few of them and put 345 00:23:15,436 --> 00:23:16,316 Speaker 3: in some mamination. 346 00:23:17,556 --> 00:23:19,996 Speaker 2: He gathered as much machine gun ammo as he could 347 00:23:20,036 --> 00:23:24,196 Speaker 2: handle and place that in strategic positions too. He needed 348 00:23:24,236 --> 00:23:26,716 Speaker 2: to trick the North Koreans into believing that there was 349 00:23:26,756 --> 00:23:30,676 Speaker 2: more than one soldier on guard. Then he waited for 350 00:23:30,756 --> 00:23:35,636 Speaker 2: the enemy to arrive. And arrived they did. The moon 351 00:23:35,756 --> 00:23:39,156 Speaker 2: moved from behind a cloud, and Ted saw them a 352 00:23:39,316 --> 00:23:43,276 Speaker 2: hundred or more North Korean soldiers silently scaling the hill. 353 00:23:43,956 --> 00:23:46,356 Speaker 2: Then it was whistles and yells and the sound of 354 00:23:46,356 --> 00:23:51,476 Speaker 2: a bugle. The onslaught had begun. Ted hurled grenades one 355 00:23:51,516 --> 00:23:54,076 Speaker 2: after another as fast as he could pull the pins. 356 00:23:54,796 --> 00:23:57,836 Speaker 2: Bone rattling blasts of motor shells came back at him. 357 00:23:58,116 --> 00:24:01,316 Speaker 2: He crawled behind a machine gun and started firing into 358 00:24:01,316 --> 00:24:04,396 Speaker 2: the darkness. Bullets zipped through the air in his direction. 359 00:24:05,236 --> 00:24:07,796 Speaker 3: Then I should with my rifle. Then I should my 360 00:24:07,956 --> 00:24:13,596 Speaker 3: carbine I throw, you'll become hysterica. I did it four 361 00:24:13,636 --> 00:24:21,156 Speaker 3: and a half hours. I've been bananas. 362 00:24:19,436 --> 00:24:25,596 Speaker 2: Four and a half hours, one man against one hundred. Finally, 363 00:24:25,836 --> 00:24:29,396 Speaker 2: as dawn came, Ted heard the sound of American planes overhead. 364 00:24:29,836 --> 00:24:32,996 Speaker 2: What was left of the enemy scattered. The battle was over. 365 00:24:33,116 --> 00:24:36,516 Speaker 2: He was alive, but still nobody was coming for him, 366 00:24:36,996 --> 00:24:41,076 Speaker 2: so he started walking. He was shell shocked, moving like 367 00:24:41,116 --> 00:24:44,676 Speaker 2: a zombie down the dusty road. When he finally reached 368 00:24:44,676 --> 00:24:48,476 Speaker 2: his company, he told Sergeant A what had happened. Sergeant 369 00:24:48,516 --> 00:24:52,036 Speaker 2: A didn't believe him, but Ted insisted that they go 370 00:24:52,156 --> 00:24:55,196 Speaker 2: back and look. He wanted proof for his commanding officers 371 00:24:55,436 --> 00:24:59,916 Speaker 2: and for himself. What they found was a pile of bodies. 372 00:25:00,556 --> 00:25:03,556 Speaker 2: The far side of the hill was carpeted with dead 373 00:25:03,836 --> 00:25:08,076 Speaker 2: and dying North Korean soldiers. Ted was horrified. He cried 374 00:25:08,076 --> 00:25:10,396 Speaker 2: in a way that he had never cried before, not 375 00:25:10,476 --> 00:25:12,956 Speaker 2: even when Emory had told him about his parents and 376 00:25:12,996 --> 00:25:13,796 Speaker 2: his little sister. 377 00:25:14,756 --> 00:25:18,676 Speaker 1: Then I have a guilt feeling what I did here. 378 00:25:19,596 --> 00:25:25,876 Speaker 3: You know, I kill even the enemy, but I killed 379 00:25:25,996 --> 00:25:30,516 Speaker 3: somebody's father brought there and all that, you know. 380 00:25:33,036 --> 00:25:35,876 Speaker 2: But here's the irony right. He had become a soldier 381 00:25:36,156 --> 00:25:40,156 Speaker 2: to save lives. His first reaction wasn't relief at having 382 00:25:40,196 --> 00:25:46,516 Speaker 2: survived an unsurvivable situation. It was to see the terrible costs. 383 00:25:47,276 --> 00:25:50,996 Speaker 2: Ted knew what war was, what soldiers did. He knew 384 00:25:50,996 --> 00:25:53,316 Speaker 2: that they weren't just the life giving g I Joes 385 00:25:53,596 --> 00:25:57,236 Speaker 2: who had saved him from death in Mohausen. They killed people, 386 00:25:57,756 --> 00:26:03,596 Speaker 2: sometimes in a way that felt needless cruel. Up until 387 00:26:03,596 --> 00:26:06,836 Speaker 2: this moment, Ted had convinced himself that he could get 388 00:26:06,876 --> 00:26:10,796 Speaker 2: through the war with his moral code intact. Now he 389 00:26:10,876 --> 00:26:13,836 Speaker 2: had to face what it actually meant to be a soldier, 390 00:26:14,476 --> 00:26:16,876 Speaker 2: and he had to figure out a way to balance 391 00:26:16,916 --> 00:26:21,476 Speaker 2: the scales. How he did would change not only Ted's life, 392 00:26:21,916 --> 00:26:27,756 Speaker 2: but the lives of dozens of others. The Extraordinary Story 393 00:26:27,756 --> 00:26:31,436 Speaker 2: of Ted Rubin continues next week on Medal of Honor, 394 00:26:31,836 --> 00:26:51,316 Speaker 2: Stories of Courage. Medal of Honor Stories of Courage is 395 00:26:51,356 --> 00:26:55,716 Speaker 2: written by Meredith Rollins and produced by Meredith Rollins, Constanza Gallardo, 396 00:26:56,196 --> 00:26:59,836 Speaker 2: and Izzy Carter. The show is edited by Ben Daph Haffrey, 397 00:27:00,076 --> 00:27:04,596 Speaker 2: sound design and additional music by Jake Gorski, recording engineering 398 00:27:04,596 --> 00:27:09,116 Speaker 2: by Nita Lawrence, fact checking by Arthur Gombert's original music 399 00:27:09,356 --> 00:27:13,236 Speaker 2: by Eric Phillips. Special thanks to the Congressional Medal of 400 00:27:13,316 --> 00:27:17,236 Speaker 2: Honor Society and the Buffalo Jewish Federation. If you want 401 00:27:17,276 --> 00:27:19,836 Speaker 2: to learn more about our Medal of Honor recipients, follow 402 00:27:19,916 --> 00:27:23,236 Speaker 2: us on Instagram and Twitter. We'll be sharing photos and 403 00:27:23,356 --> 00:27:26,596 Speaker 2: videos of the heroes featured on the show. We'd also 404 00:27:26,716 --> 00:27:29,276 Speaker 2: love to hear from you dm us with a story 405 00:27:29,276 --> 00:27:32,276 Speaker 2: about a courageous veteran in your life. If you don't 406 00:27:32,356 --> 00:27:34,796 Speaker 2: know a veteran, we would love to hear a story 407 00:27:34,996 --> 00:27:39,116 Speaker 2: of how courage was contagious in your own life. You 408 00:27:39,156 --> 00:27:44,636 Speaker 2: can find us at Pushkinbods. I'm your host, Malcolm Glappo.