The National Museum of the United States Air Force tells a number of unexpected stories. One of those is of this gentleman, a Holocaust survivor who came to America following the war.

Six million Jewish people were exterminated by Hitler and the evil ones who followed him. These people who died were normal people just like you and I. They were men, women and children. They were old and young. Rich and poor. They were successful business people, poor farmers, musicians, academics, shopkeepers,schoolchildren and most importantly, human. None deserved the fate that awaited them in Germany’s extermination camps. 

Their neighbors turned a blind eye as they were dehumanized and then dragged from their homes because it didn’t affect them. 

Six million souls lost because no one stood up to do the right thing. 

But one who survived this atrocity is this gentleman, Henry Wyrobnik. Born in Lodz, Poland, Henry was put in the Lodz Ghetto along with his parents, siblings and other family members. The Nazis sent them to Auschwitz in August 1944. According to the sign with his picture, he and thousands of others were taken on a Death March as Allied Forces approached in 1945.

They were given small amounts of bread as they marched for two weeks, day and night. Anyone who walked out of line or who lagged behind was shot by the Nazis. They spent another two weeks on open coal trains with nothing to eat but snow. And when people in Czechoslovakia threw food to the trains, the Czech people were shot. 

Henry said that 108 people were packed on his train but only 35 survived the trip. The story goes on and is grim. In fact, it’s unbelievable that humans could be so cruel. But it’s an important piece of our history that we badly need to remember as history does indeed repeat itself. 

Despite the hatred and cruelty he endured, Henry lived. He lost his entire family but he made it out alive. When Gunzkirchen was liberated in May 1945, he went to a hospital for recovery and then to a Displaced Persons Camp at Feldafing, Germany. It was here that he met Dora, another survivor who would become his wife. They came to America in 1949 where he became a business owner in Dayton. Henry and Doris had three children and seven grandsons. 

I found his obituary online and learned that he died in 2007. He was 86. Dora survived him after 61 years of marriage. I do hope they were 61 happy years. 

There’s more to the Holocaust exhibit but Henry is the piece of the exhibit that I always focus on. I suppose because his face contrasted with that awful number tattooed on his arm is an unapologetic reminder that he was a human. The. Nazis dehumanizied these people because they were Jewish.  

Henry was a Jew. He was a survivor. He was a Holocaust survivor who lived to educate us all and to lend a face to the six million souls who were not so fortunate. 

Look for this exhibit and don’t just walk by. Stop and study the words and the faces. It’s important.