When Portia and Babs were little girls, we lived near Rice University in Houston. There was a wonderful toy store in the Rice Village area called World Toy and Gift. It was owned by an elderly woman who was a Holocaust survivor. Miss Rose had a number tattooed on her arm from a concentration camp that was visible to the children whenever she rang up our purchases on the cash register.
My daughters noticed it and asked her about it. She explained to them what it was and told them her story of surviving the camps, losing most of her family in the Holocaust, and coming to America. You can imagine the questions that flowed from that conversation once we got into the car and drove home. That conversation was repeated after each time the girls came with me into that store and greeted Miss Rose.
A number of years later we moved to Sugar Land. The liquor store in the closest strip shopping center to our house was owned and run by another woman who was a Holocaust survivor. My girls were older now. I deliberately brought them into the store with me when I made purchases there so they could meet her. This woman spoke at their elementary school and at schools in the area about her experiences. She also had a number tatooed on her arm.
Miss Rose died, and World Toy and Gift is now closed. The woman who owned the liquor store retired and closed her business a few years ago. I don't know whether or not she is still alive. The generation that survived the Holocaust is dwindling rapidly. But Portia and Babs remember that they met Holocaust survivors and heard their stories. And they will tell their children about these women and their stories so my grandchildren will know and remember, too.
There is a
Holocaust Museum in Houston that preserves the stories of Houston area residents who were and are survivors for those who haven't had the privilege of meeting them in person. And for posterity.
Today is Holocaust Remembrance Day. It really happened. Lest we forget.
