Mom's influence, her dedication to educating the world about the Holocaust, is still being felt ... in Iowa.
Yes, Iowa. You read that correctly. Danville, Iowa, to be exact, a small farming community in the southeast part of the state.
Good timing, too. The day after this year's International Holocaust Remembrance Day, we received a note -- through a longtime friend -- from a man in Iowa asking for permission to use photos of Mom (and Dad) and one of her poems in a Holocaust-related museum.
The Danville Station, a library-museum featuring the "Anne Frank Pen Pal Letters." It is a non-for-profit cultural institution.
Intriguing? Indeed.
Mom, who for 25 years talked and wrote so often about the Holocaust, has been gone 14 1/2 years (Dad for 16 1/2). But they would be so proud of an exhibit being put together in that museum to honor them.
We -- their family -- are pleased, and happy to help.
In a world where Holocaust education seems to be dwindling as much as the actual survivors of that horror, this is a small bit of encouragement.
So were the responses we received this week about our (annual) post/e-mail on Holocaust Remembrance Day. We will never forget, or -- as one friend pointed out -- forgive.
(And we don't approve of Elon Musk's clownish "salute," or whatever he did, and certainly not of his coddling of Germany's far-right -- yeah, Nazi-leaning -- political party. He's not stupid, but that was. C'mon, he knows what a Nazi salute looks like. So why even go there?)
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Yes, Iowa. You read that correctly. Danville, Iowa, to be exact, a small farming community in the southeast part of the state.
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| Our young Rose |
The Danville Station, a library-museum featuring the "Anne Frank Pen Pal Letters." It is a non-for-profit cultural institution.
Intriguing? Indeed.
Mom, who for 25 years talked and wrote so often about the Holocaust, has been gone 14 1/2 years (Dad for 16 1/2). But they would be so proud of an exhibit being put together in that museum to honor them.
We -- their family -- are pleased, and happy to help.
In a world where Holocaust education seems to be dwindling as much as the actual survivors of that horror, this is a small bit of encouragement.
So were the responses we received this week about our (annual) post/e-mail on Holocaust Remembrance Day. We will never forget, or -- as one friend pointed out -- forgive.
(And we don't approve of Elon Musk's clownish "salute," or whatever he did, and certainly not of his coddling of Germany's far-right -- yeah, Nazi-leaning -- political party. He's not stupid, but that was. C'mon, he knows what a Nazi salute looks like. So why even go there?)
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Back to the story, the Anne Frank-Rose Van Thyn connection of sorts.
The origin of this tale is a note from Dr. Stephen J. Gaies, who was director of the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Education and a professor emeritus in the department of languages and literatures at the University of Northern Iowa. He is now a consultant to the Danville museum, which opened in 2018.
The origin of this tale is a note from Dr. Stephen J. Gaies, who was director of the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Education and a professor emeritus in the department of languages and literatures at the University of Northern Iowa. He is now a consultant to the Danville museum, which opened in 2018.
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He was writing our old friend Thomas Aswell (from Ruston, Louisiana Tech and now living in the Baton Rouge area where he is a longtime political journalist, and a good one.)
Dr. Gaies: "I am writing about gaining permission to use a photograph that appeared in an article you published in Louisiana Voice on November 1, 2016 ..." (about the book Survivors: 62511, 70726, our family's story and that of my parents' Holocaust concentration camp experiences.)
He explained that he was helping design the museum's permanent exhibit and "featuring one of Rose Van Thyn's poems ('Where To') in a new part of the museum." They also want to include some images as part of the description of her life.
Dr. Gaies: "I am writing about gaining permission to use a photograph that appeared in an article you published in Louisiana Voice on November 1, 2016 ..." (about the book Survivors: 62511, 70726, our family's story and that of my parents' Holocaust concentration camp experiences.)
He explained that he was helping design the museum's permanent exhibit and "featuring one of Rose Van Thyn's poems ('Where To') in a new part of the museum." They also want to include some images as part of the description of her life.
While Dr. Gaies was our contact, he stresses that Janet Hesler is "the founder, director and 'soul' of the museum and this exhibit."
Certainly, we granted permission. And we did send a good number of photos and blog pieces to hopefully enhance the exhibit.
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Now, to tell how Anne Frank (and her sister) figure into this story.
"It's an honor to tell your mother's (and father's) story to visitors [at the museum]," Dr. Gaies wrote. "Let me tell you ... how we plan to incorporate a sample of your mother's poetry and information about her life and accomplishments into the new exhibit area.
Mrs. Hesler: "The Anne Frank letters began in 1939 when our teacher at Danville, Miss Birdie Mathews, started an international correspondence exchange program for her students.
Certainly, we granted permission. And we did send a good number of photos and blog pieces to hopefully enhance the exhibit.
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Now, to tell how Anne Frank (and her sister) figure into this story.
"It's an honor to tell your mother's (and father's) story to visitors [at the museum]," Dr. Gaies wrote. "Let me tell you ... how we plan to incorporate a sample of your mother's poetry and information about her life and accomplishments into the new exhibit area.
Mrs. Hesler: "The Anne Frank letters began in 1939 when our teacher at Danville, Miss Birdie Mathews, started an international correspondence exchange program for her students.
"The students drew names and Juanita Wagner drew the name of Anne Frank. The Wagner sisters (Betty and Juanita) wrote a letter to Anne and on April 29, 1940, two letters and a postcard arrived in the mail from Anne and her sister Margot. "Eleven days later the Nazis invaded Holland, so this is the only correspondence that we have."
"The original letters are in the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles and we have the only copies of them in the world."
Dr. Gaies: "It wasn't until a few decades after the war, when Anne Frank started to become a central figure in America's representation of the Holocaust, that the significance of this letter was recognized. A small local museum was created in Danville to preserve this small bit of history."
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Also at the museum is an authenic pre-WW II cattle-car train, the kind used to transport so many people -- mostly Jews -- to the concentration camps (Mom included, her ride to Auschwitz.) Dr. Gaies: "Years of efforts to obtain a WW II-era railcar similar to those used for deportations from Westerbork (the transit camp in eastern Netherlands) finally bore fruit, and a railcar was located and restored in Germany and shipped to Danville, arriving in 2023.
"An enclosure has been built to protect the railcar from Iowa's harsh weather. One wall of the enclosure is clear; the other three inside walls of the enclosure are new exhibit space. A museum design firm has been contracted to transform our ideas for the exhibit.
"Your mother's poem and a photo of her will appear together with an excerpt from a letter by and an image of Etty Hillesum, in a section entitled, 'Writing About Deportation.' ... We are including a QR code that will link visitors to a webpage containing supplementary information about your mother's life. The information will include a prose summary, a timeline and a list of selected references, together with additional images, we hope. Etty Hillesum will have a different QR code and supplementary information webpage, as will two Dutch rescuers we are featuring in another section of the exhibit.
"Even though the museum is off the beaten track, it already gets thousands of visitors each year, and there is every expectation that with the new exhibit and increasing publicity abut the railcar, attendance (including school visits) will continue to increase.
"So I feel that this is a wonderful new opportunity to share your mother's -- indeed, your family's -- story with a world that can only benefit from learning about your parents' courage and resilience."
We agree, and we are grateful. We will not forget.
"An enclosure has been built to protect the railcar from Iowa's harsh weather. One wall of the enclosure is clear; the other three inside walls of the enclosure are new exhibit space. A museum design firm has been contracted to transform our ideas for the exhibit.
"Your mother's poem and a photo of her will appear together with an excerpt from a letter by and an image of Etty Hillesum, in a section entitled, 'Writing About Deportation.' ... We are including a QR code that will link visitors to a webpage containing supplementary information about your mother's life. The information will include a prose summary, a timeline and a list of selected references, together with additional images, we hope. Etty Hillesum will have a different QR code and supplementary information webpage, as will two Dutch rescuers we are featuring in another section of the exhibit.
"Even though the museum is off the beaten track, it already gets thousands of visitors each year, and there is every expectation that with the new exhibit and increasing publicity abut the railcar, attendance (including school visits) will continue to increase.
"So I feel that this is a wonderful new opportunity to share your mother's -- indeed, your family's -- story with a world that can only benefit from learning about your parents' courage and resilience."
We agree, and we are grateful. We will not forget.
