History & Area Studies / World History / European History

He Survived the Holocaust, Then Found His Rescuer 36 Years Later in NYC

Martin Small

Martin Small, a Holocaust survivor from the Polish shtetl of Maitchet, recounts his harrowing journey through Nazi camps, including the brutal Mauthausen death camp where he weighed just 70 pounds. After liberation, he fought in Israel's War of Independence, then moved to New York. Decades later, a late-night phone call revealed that his longtime friend, an Irish-American cop, was the very soldier who had carried him from the dead in 1945. This is a story of survival, the betrayal of neighbors, and an impossible reunion that defies belief.