By Bread Alone

By Bread Alone: The Story of A-4685 is the memoir of Mel Mermelstein, a Hungarian survivor of the Holocaust.
The book chronicles Mel's experiences from his deportation in 1944 until his arrival in New York in 1946. It was turned into a made-for-television movie called "Never Forget" in 1991, starring Leonard Nimoy as Mermelstein and Dabney Coleman as Mermelstein's attorney.
Mel Mermelstein was born on September 25, 1926, in Örösveg, a suburb of Munkacs. At the time this area was part of Czechoslovakia, but later became a section of Hungary in 1939. In May 1944, Mermelstein was transported to Auschwitz and was registered on the 22nd as prisoner # A-4685. Mermelstein has this number tattoed on his forearm. He was held there for approximately six weeks, then transferred to the Gleiwitz I labor camp where he remained for the next six months. Beginning in January, 1945, he was moved to several different camps until finally ending up at Buchenwald in February. He remained there until American soldiers arrived on April 11, 1945 and set the prisoners free.

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