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Professor Wertz-Orbaugh
Cameron 157
10/14/2015
The Holocaust: Escaping German Horrors
The roles non-Jews played to help Jewish communities escape the Holocaust are evident
in Marcel Drimers narration dubbed Escaping the Concert of Death. Based on the narrators
experiences in avoiding an aktion or violent operation by German forces on August 1942 in
Poland, the transcript provides readers with a new perception of the horrors. Apparently, on a
fateful night, Drimer along with his mother and sister, were conveniently at the home of the
childrens Polish nanny (par. 4). After learning of the advancing German troops, the mother and
her children escaped to a nearby wheat field. According to Drimer, with the help of a raincoat
the same color [as the wheat], the three hid from the enemy ransacking Poland's Drohobycz for
Jews (par. 6). For an estimated five hours, German soldiers captured or killed Jewish families,
and the woman with her children remained hidden from the chaos. Now, while leaving the wheat
field, a member of the regular army or the Wehrmacht discovered the trio but instead of
turning them in or worse, the man walked away (par.6). Drimer reckons that the soldier only
acted so because he was alone with his dog and did not have a companion to whom he would
have to prove that he does not pity the Jews. Either way, the three made it to their home only to
discover the Germans had already passed through, and the whereabouts of the father and
relatives were a mystery.

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Drimers text provides a new perception into the mechanisms of the German Nazis during
the Holocaust. Contrary to other personal narratives that depict a heartless German army under
Hitler, evidently not all were as merciless. As Drimer notes, compassion among the Nazis was
impossible because one German would be afraid of the other [reporting] that he helped Jews
(par.7). For that reason, it is possible that even in concentration camps some of the Germans did
not approve of the killings but were incapable of acting on their personal views. Naturally, it
unethical and even illogical to assume that all of the Nazis were ready to kill, however, it helps to
have proof of the same. Additionally, wit was necessary to escape the advancing German forces,
and so was the support of the people that the Germans approved. In other words, there was
evidently no hope for the Jews to escape Hitlers Nazi regime unless other individuals aided their
efforts. After all, Drimers story mentions a Polish family and the trooper helping them escape
and without them, the story would have been different.
With that in mind, the victims of the Holocaust were apparently harder to spot than
history would have people believe. In contemporary times, the personal narrations of individuals
such as Drimer are a revelation to the deeper roots of the terror inflicted by the Nazis. The
contents of Escaping the Concert of Death show more victims than the hiding Jewish family
and they directly represent many more that suffered because of Hitlers misguided ideologies.
Obviously, there is Drimer with his mother and sister who would have suffered had the militia
discovered their hiding spot. Next, there is the Polish nanny that apparently was risking her life
by hiding Jews and finally, the Nazi soldier risking his life by allowing Jews to escape. If one
keeps count, the Holocaust had two more groups of victims that receive little to no attention.
Nonetheless, Drimers tale warrants three main questions; how did he and other Jews
escape? Did he encounter more Nazis that sympathized with the Jews? Did he find his father?

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Work Cited
Drimer, Marcel. "Escaping the Concert of Death." 15 April 2009. United States Holocaust
Memorial Museum. 14 October 2015. Web.
http://www.ushmm.org/information/museum-programs-and-calendar/first-person-program/firstperson-podcast/marcel-drimer-escaping-the-concert-of-death