REAL PEOPLE/THE BEAT GOES ON
‘Music Is Hope’
Holocaust survivor Saul Dreier formed a band to comfort others
MUSIC HAS the ability to crack open hearts, to change minds, to heal, to comfort. When I was 89, I read about the concert pianist Alice Herz-Sommer, who had died at 110. Like me, she was a Nazi concentration camp survivor. And also like me, she had used music as a way through that terrible time. After the war, she continued to play to try to heal hearts. I felt that I needed to honor her in some way. It came to me that I should organize a Holocaust survivor band to continue her work. I told my wife, and she said I was crazy. I told my rabbi, and he said I was crazy too. But I was very stubborn.
During World War II, I was sent to several concentration and work camps in Poland. My whole family was killed, and I alone lived. There was a famous cantor in one of the camps with me, and he would sing Jewish songs. And in those moments of music, I found escape. One day, I realized that he needed a beat, so I managed to get two metal spoons, and I drummed for him: pum, pum, pum. Almost every night, we would all gather and sing, even though we were starving and exhausted. That is how I learned the drums. When we were liberated, I was sent to a displaced person’s camp in Italy, where there were actual instruments. I played the drums for the people in the camp and the town. Such joy!
After I went to America, between work and raising a family, I didn’t have time for music. But reading about Alice Herz-Sommer brought me back to the way music can reach hearts. I bought some drums for my band idea. At first, my wife said, “Either the drums go or you go,” but when you’ve been married so long, you fight for five minutes and make up 10 minutes later. Through people at my temple in Florida, I found other survivors and their children.
Our first concert, in 2014, was at the temple. We played Jewish, Polish, Hebrew and dancing music. We got a standing ovation! I felt like the sky had opened. And my wife? She said, “I live with you 51 years, and today you are my celebrity!”
In 10 years, we’ve played all over America (including the White House), Israel, Canada, Brazil and Poland. I will play for as long as I can, because music is hope. I am not interested in politics or taking sides. My purpose in life is to get people to see that we are all one, we all sing the same song. —As told to Beth Levine
Saul Dreier, 99, of Coconut Grove, Florida, advocates for peace and tolerance through his nonprofit, Saul’s Generation Foundation.
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To watch Dreier in action in our video, visit aarp.org/sauldreier.