My favorite picture at Houston's Holocaust Museum
By Hyman Penn
Facebook
October 22, 2022
This is my favorite picture at Holocaust Museum Houston. The man to the far right has just gotten off this train 70 years ago in Houston, Texas at the site where Minute Maid Park stands today. That’s why a train goes by when a Houston Astro hits a home run or the team wins the game—this is the site where the train station was in Houston. This man is ready to start a new life after surviving the Holocaust. He was hidden along with his brother Joseph and sister-in-law Rica by Christian farmers around his home town of Vilkaviskis, Lithuania. His parents, a brother, sister, and countless relatives were murdered during this terrible time in history.
He is 27 years old and does not speak a word of English. He is wearing a suit that was sewn together with scraps of material by a tailor at the Displaced Persons camp he was at for 5 years in Austria. He is carrying a small bag with a change of clothes. He was put on a ship in Germany, arrived in Boston and given a $5 bill at which time he was put on this train to his new home in Houston. This man is my father, Morris I. Penn. His face is expressing confidence, determination, and resilience.
The train at Minute Maid Park
As our Houston Astros begin playing in the World Series, their faces also express confidence, determination, and resilience. And every time that train rolls by in the Series (and I hope it will be many times!), I will be thinking of my father getting off the train ready to start a new chapter in his life in his wonderful new home.
1 comment:
Resilience and courage.
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