SAN ANTONIO – It has been 80 years since the discovery of Holocaust concentration camps shocked and horrified U.S. troops and their allies.
“They were well-trained for the battlefield, but this defied anything that they could have imagined,” said Leslie Davis Met, the executive director of the Holocaust Memorial Museum of San Antonio.
Eleven million people, including six million Jews, were murdered during the Holocaust.
With 44,000 Holocaust camps across Europe, Met said it’s difficult to trace all the people who liberated them, but she just learned of a deep San Antonio connection.
“One of my colleagues stumbled across this small infantry group that liberated the concentration camp of Flossenbürg in Germany,” Met said. “I don’t know that any of us who have been studying this for decades really ever made the connection.”
The 90th infantry of the U.S. Army was stationed in Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, coined the “Tough ‘Ombres.”
The “T” stands for Texas and the “O” for Oklahoma, the two states where most of the troops were from.
“They entered in 1942 into through the Battle of the Bulge and through Normandy and made their way across to Germany. And, in 1945, they liberated Flossenbürg camp in April of 1945,” Met said.
The “Tough ‘Ombres” sacrificed their lives during the fight for the freedom of others.
“There were up to 35,000 ‘Tough ‘Ombres’ that served during the Holocaust and about 27,000 of them were actually injured or lost their lives during the Holocaust,” Met said.
Eighty years ago, the “Tough ‘Ombres” inscribed themselves on the right side of history: the side of freedom.
San Antonians like Met are proud to hear of this connection.
“My children are fifth-generation San Antonians, and my husband’s family is actually first-generation American. His parents were born as their parents were escaping Poland and Austria,” Met said. “And so, to be able to bring that connection home, was something really special.”
As the number of Holocaust survivors and their liberators dwindles, Met said it’s everyone’s responsibility to continue telling their stories, so history does not repeat itself.
“The Holocaust is a lesson in history, but it’s also more importantly a lesson in humanity. Man’s inhumanity towards each other can lead to catastrophic repercussions on our world,” Met said. “It’s really a lesson about accepting each other for who we are and accepting our differences as opposed to isolation and betrayal.”
Even though 80 years have passed, she said we must still carry those values into the present and future.
“So that we can share those with others and share those with our younger generations,” Met said. “So that they understand how man can turn against man, and how we have to open our arms and live more harmoniously.”
To learn more about Holocaust history, or to set up group visits to the museum, visit their website or call (210) 302-6807.