Thinking about Poppy...

There are many times throughout my week that I think about my grandfather, Poppy (Meyer Dwass). Mostly I think about him when I am at the Technion, where he taught statistics in 1966. I like to think about how it was for him to walk through the same buildings that I walk through during my regular school day. I also like to think about how proud he would be of me, studying at an institution that he once taught at.
Today I am thinking about him for a different reason. Tonight starts the the holiday in which Israelis commemorate the Holocaust Memorial Day. My grandfather was lucky enough to be an American at the time of World War II. He served in the military during the war and I remember our family receiving the U.S. flag at his funeral in honor of his military service. He served in the European Theater of Operations with the US Army from 1943 to 1946. And I remember my mom telling me that part of his job was to go to the labor camps in Germany and liberate the prisoners. I don't know the whole story. Nonetheless, I am incredibly thankful today that Poppy was there. How was it for him to see fellow humans and fellow Jews in such conditions? What did he feel? How was he changed? Are those people he liberated my neighbors? Maybe their grandchildren study with me. Did he change those people's lives, give them hope? I think so. Thinking about him and all those fellow brothers and sisters whose memories are a blessing.