I got to see the new El Paso Holocaust Museum today. It is truly special.
I have been to holocaust museums at Dachau, in Berlin, and in Cologne but this new one in El Paso, Texas is the best. Honest.Today was a really special day too. Sara Hauptman was speaking to a large gathering of Germany Air Force members. She is a holocaust survivor, a great grandmother, and a proud American citizen who lives in El Paso.
During WWII she was a young Jewish mother and lion tamer. But no one knew she was Jewish. When working in the ring with an audience full of Germans, she was very frightened of the Nazis, but she knew that she must not let the animals smell her fear.
One of the ladies who volunteers at the museum told me that Mrs. Hauptman was shaking today. In fear of the Nazis…..this many years later.
During the war she fought with the Belgian Resistance under the cover of a lion tamer in a circus. She made false identity papers, delivered messages, disposed of Allied parachutes, and more. After her arrest she was sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau where she became a victim of Dr. Mengele’s experiments. Later she was shipped to Dachau near Munich, Germany. --(In 1972 I visited Dachau for the first time, and I was at the summer olympic games in Munich the day that the Palestinians murdered the Jewish athletes.)
After the liberation by the Allies, she met General Dwight D. Eisenhower and became a liaison between the Allied liberators and concentration camp survivors.
This excellent museum is in downtown El Paso. Entry is free and it is open Tuesday through Friday from 9:00 to 4:00. On Saturday and Sunday it is open from 1:00 pm to 5:00.
This is a link to their website: http://www.elpasoholocaustmuseum.org/
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