When soldier Arthur Tyler, of the Oxfordshire Yeomanry, helped liberate concentration camp Bergen-Belsen on April 15 1945, the remaining prisoners they found were diseased, starving and broken, surrounded by thousands of unburied dead.
But one of the survivors, Naomi Kaplan, a Polish Jew who survived both Auschwitz-Birkenau, and Bergen-Belsen concentration camps, approached Arthur and asked him to write to her family to tell them she was alive. He wrote straight away and reached Naomi’s sister Elizabeth Brandon in Houston.
As a result Naomi’s brother-in-law and other US Army soldiers were soon able to visit her in Germany and Naomi was then able to relocate to Houston where she led got married, had three children and became a successful business woman.
Naomi’s mother, husband and sister-in-law had all perished in Auschwitz
The resulting exhibition ‘Naomi and Arthur: Letters from Liberation’ focuses on this incredible story, thanks to research by Dr Myfanwy Lloyd which enabled the Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum to connect with Naomi’s children and grandchildren in Houston.
And now a new generation can be been touched by Naomi and Arthur’s story as visitors to the Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum in Woodstock can witness the original letters, family photographs and newspaper reports that tell their tale.
‘I met very many British soldiers and I asked everybody to write about me to my family, but nobody did it – only you’
When Naomi eventually reached the USA, she wrote to Arthur, to thank him saying: ‘I met very many British soldiers and I asked everybody to write about me to my family, but nobody did it – only you.’
Once living in Houston and reunited with her remaining family (her mother, husband and sister-in-law had all perished in Auschwitz) Naomi lived each day at a time: ‘I try to forget my sad past, I am thinking about the fine present and the beautiful future,” she said.
Naomi was also a great philanthropist, and for her 80th birthday and to celebrate her extraordinary life, her three children established The Warren Fellowship for Future Teachers based at The Holocaust Museum Houston, which continues to teach and inspire.
Arthur led a modest life in London after the war. But he never forgot what he had seen at Bergen-Belsen, continuing to protest against Holocaust denial, and being interviewed for several national newspapers.
Ursula Corcoran, Director of the Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum said: ‘Through Naomi and Arthur we can remember the devastation that the Nazi regime inflicted on so many families. But we also see that humanity can shine through in the bleakest of situations. The story is also a powerful reminder that we need to be vigilant against Holocaust denial and the rise of authoritarian rule. The new display gives a human face to the Holocaust Memorial Day theme for 2024 – the ‘Fragility of Freedom’.
‘Naomi and Arthur: Letters from Liberation’ goes on display at the Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum from January 27. https://www.sofo.org.uk
