Saul Dreier spent time in multiple concentration camps during World War II. He is unsure how he survived when millions of others, including family members died during the Holocaust.
But now, he is drumming up support for his musical group, the Holocaust Survivor Band.
Liberated from a camp in Austria
Dreier first heard music while working in a factory during the war owned by German industrialist Oskar Schindler.
“And they were playing,” he said. “And I took my two spoons turning around, ‘Thump, thump, thump,’ and they started to sing, and I started to clap the spoons.”
Dreier is speaking and performing on drums with his Holocaust Survivor Band at Hannaford Hall on the University of Southern Maine campus on Aug. 20.
Born April 29, 1925, in Krakow, Dreier was liberated from the Mauthausen concentration camp in Austria by U.S. troops as World War II came to a close. He emigrated to the United States in 1949 and moved to New Jersey to become a construction contractor, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He got married in 1957 before retiring to Florida.
When he was 89 and living in the South Florida city of Coconut Creek, Dreier was bitten by the music bug again.
“One morning (in April 2014), I woke up, went on my computer, and I started to look (at) the news, and I see a woman, 106 years old, a piano player, survived the concentration camp,” Dreier said. “She was playing piano every day in London, (in) her apartment for the neighbors.
‘I think you’re crazy’
“I am looking at this, I say, ‘I’m gonna put together a Holocaust survivor band.’ And I go to my wife (Clara), and I tell her the same story. ... She says, “You’re crazy.’”
When Dreier went to his temple for services several days later, he spoke to his rabbi about his idea.
"(The) rabbi says, ‘Well, Saul, look, you’re already 89 years old, and ... you’re retired several years but do whatever you please. I think you’re crazy.”
Undeterred, Dreier formed the Holocaust Survivor Band.
“And that’s how it started. And I have opportunities and overnight I became a sensation,” he said. “I play the drums, I entertain, I travel, and I gonna be 100 years old in a few months.”
After playing several dates in South Florida, Dreier and his band members were invited to play in Las Vegas on Dec. 13, 2014, at a casino for a “Last Survivor Concert,” according to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
As a Holocaust survivor, Dreier has several messages.
“Message one is we have to combat antisemitism,” he said. “The second message I got, which I cherish (is that) ... we all have one heart. We have to make sure that we live together. Don’t fight because we all have the same thing. Nobody’s more superior than another one. That’s my aim. That’s the message.”
This story was originally published by Maine Public. It was shared as part of the New England News Collaborative.
