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Washington Post
3 days ago
- General
- Washington Post
U.S. vet from WWII is honored in Europe, showered with gratitude at age 99
Harry Humason's right arm became so fatigued from waving at the adoring crowd that the 99-year-old used his left arm to support it. Humason sat in the passenger seat of a truck, wearing a U.S. Army jacket and a hat that listed his World War II regiment and division. As the truck inched past a synagogue, apartments and stores in Pilsen, Czech Republic, roughly 50,000 people cheered, threw lilacs from balconies and waved Czech and U.S. flags. Humason was treated like a hero this month when he visited the Czech Republic, returning to a place he helped liberate from Nazi Germany during World War II. He pulled thousands of dollars from his emergency fund to realize his dream trip, visiting Europe for the first time since 1945 and receiving recognition for his service there. His daughter, Linda Humason, created a GoFundMe for the trip, but only a handful of people had contributed by the time the pair flew to Europe. That changed after the festivities in Pilsen. Humason was shocked that hundreds of grateful Czech citizens donated money to thank him for his contributions to their country. The GoFundMe reached nearly $30,000, largely in small donations, so Humason wouldn't have to pay a cent for his travels. 'I went over with the idea that it was a trip of a lifetime for me,' Humason told The Washington Post. 'And I soon discovered from the Czech people that really I was a token representative of all the veterans that had fought in World War II to liberate Europe and Czechoslovakia, and I took that very seriously.' 'I was just so moved by the people there,' he added. 'It was just amazing.' Humason, who grew up in Alhambra, California, volunteered to join the Army in December 1943 as a teenager. He became a private first class under Gen. George S. Patton Jr., carrying a Browning automatic rifle. He was in combat for more than four months in Europe near the end of World War II, helping liberate Frankfurt, Germany, before his division was sent to a Czechoslovakia mountain range in May 1945. Humason said he walked about 50 miles through woods, small towns and a swamp for a few days carrying playing cards that his division used to decide who would pick up tasks like digging a latrine or being on night patrol. They reached the Teplá Vltava river, where Humason saw trouble: German bunkers, an 8.8 centimeter flak gun and machine guns on the other side. He heard gunfire from Russian liberators fighting German soldiers. 'If we had to cross that river,' Humason said, 'I might not be here.' Before they crossed, they were relieved to receive word that they should stay on the hillside. A white plane would be flying above them, carrying the German delegation that would sign a ceasefire to end the conflict. Humason said he and his division captured German soldiers who surrendered and held them at a hunting lodge with a large, fenced courtyard. After the war, Humason received a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the University of California at Berkeley and began building missiles and rockets at a Naval Ordnance Test Station in Pasadena, California. He met his late wife, Jean, in college and started a family. He never expected to return to Europe. That changed in October. Jiri Kluc, a Czech historian who interviews World War II veterans and Holocaust survivors, saw photos on Facebook of Humason from a recent Puget Sound Honor Flight, a nonprofit that flies Washington state veterans to D.C. Kluc noticed a red diamond on the front of Humason's green helmet, a symbol of the division that liberated Czechoslovakia, before it split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1993. Kluc, 28, emailed Humason to invite him to Pilsen's liberation festival in May. Linda Humason created a GoFundMe in December, asking for help buying flights, transportation in Europe, hotels, travel insurance, meals, tickets for public attractions and pet sitting for her two dogs and cat. 'I wanted to make sure he made this trip because it was going to be a once-in-a-lifetime shot, I thought,' said Linda, 56. 'And I didn't care what it took to get him there.' So despite only raising $2,605 by the end of April, they flew to Europe. After visiting relatives in Amsterdam for a few days, Humason and Linda arrived in Pilsen, a city in west Czech Republic, on May 1 for four days of liberation celebrations. Veterans' family members, including Patton's grandson, George Patton Waters, were there, but Humason said he was the only U.S. veteran. Some Czechs wore makeshift U.S. uniforms and set up tents for a reproduction of the U.S. Army's encampment and a reenactment of the May 1945 liberation convoy through the city. Humason tried to attend every event, even if they were honoring divisions he wasn't a part of. Humason participated in the convoy and delivered a speech in the city's Republic Square in front of about 5,000 people, where he said 'no one wins, everyone loses' in war. After a few days in Pilsen, city officials arranged a 50-mile drive to Prague for Humason and Linda, and Kluc shared a link to Linda's GoFundMe on Instagram. To Kluc's surprise, Czechs helped donate $20,000, Linda's fundraising goal, within a few days. Humason said he was relieved he could reimburse the money he spent from his savings. And his recognition was far from over. Humason attended a concert at the Municipal House, where a symphony orchestra played famous songs from World War II movies. Before performing the theme song from the 1970 movie 'Patton,' the conductor walked off stage and toward Humason to introduce him to the crowd. Hundreds gave him a standing ovation for about a minute. After the concert, spectators approached him for photos and autographs. Kluc's father, Aleš, drove Humason and Linda about 80 miles south to the Teplá Vltava river, where the country had established a diamond-shaped monument in honor of Humason's division. Vegetation covered the German bunkers that Humason saw across the river decades earlier. Humason and Linda then flew to Frankfurt, where Humason was amazed to see the city clean and lively with modern buildings. When Humason was there in the spring of 1945, rubble filled the sides of the streets from demolished buildings and other structures. Before they flew home May 13, Linda bought another suitcase to fill with about 39 pounds' worth of gifts that Humason had received. He took home a small granite pillar that had broken off from Pilsen's Thank You America Memorial. He received dozens of challenge coins and badges, including one from the U.S. Embassy that showed a U.S. flag and a Czech flag intertwined and Pilsen police patches that officers ripped off their uniforms to give him. He received World War II books, even though he can't read the ones written in Czech. The Embassy is mailing him a U.S. flag that flew there May 6, the 80th anniversary of U.S. troops liberating Pilsen. Linda said she and her father spent about $24,000 on the trip, but with the extra money she received on GoFundMe, she said she'll donate to her county's veterans assistance center. She's saving some money so she and her dad can begin planning another trip to Pilsen.
CBS News
4 days ago
- General
- CBS News
St. Ann School in Pilsen unveils project showcasing history, contributions of community
A group of eighth graders at a Pilsen middle school has been working on a project to preserve and celebrate the contributions of immigrants over the years. Now it's on display for all of the community to enjoy. The Pilsen Project was unveiled on Thursday, the last day of school for the students at St Ann School at 2211 W. 18th Pl. Principal Kathleen Fox said the project originated in 2019 when the church behind the school was turned into condos. "Our eighth graders at the time were really disheartened to see that change in the community, and from it came the Pilsen Project, so they can preserve the history of their beloved neighborhood," Fox said. The project consists of five parts—the buddy benches, the story book, the garden, the mural, and the documentary. The mural includes depictions of St. Ann, Mary, and the Chicago skyline, aiming to capture the school's spirit. "We've been working it for about a week to two weeks, I would say," eighth-grader Nate Edders said. He said his favorite part of the project is the buddy benches, as they capture the neighborhood's image. "I think that kind of capturing image of Pilsen and then putting it into a community bench is just." 'We're trying to give back to more than St. Ann School," Fox said. "We wanna make sure that the whole Pilsen community is able to celebrate and use this project, so they're welcome to use our garden, they're welcome to use our benches, so we can preserve the history together, St. Ann and Pilsen." School officials say the project allowed the students to show their community pride and demonstrate their leadership skills.
Daily Mail
07-05-2025
- Daily Mail
Mystery of bloodied and bruised 'lost German girl' following Nazi surrender sparks host of wild theories
For years, ever since footage appeared in TV documentaries and online, the identity and fate of the so-called 'Lost German Girl' has proved captivating. Dressed in a nondescript dark uniform, she had a swollen face from a possible savage beating, the woman was seen walking on a road in liberated Czechoslovakia, which was split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1993. The date was May 7, 1945, the same day that Nazi Germany surrendered to the Allies after the suicide of Adolf Hitler in his Berlin bunker. As captured German troops fled in the opposite direction of Russian soldiers, the U.S. Army was at hand to witness the chaos. The footage featuring the woman was shot by U.S. Army captain Oren W Haglund on a road towards Pilsen, around 50 miles from Prague. Lost German Girl, also known as LGG, inspired works of art, poems, guitar compositions, and even an entire blog dedicated to tracking her down. But even almost 20 years on from the first attempt by Internet sleuths to find her, the identity and fate of the featured woman remained a mystery. Some claimed she was as described by Captain Haglund in the footage's original short cards an 'SS girl'. Others said she was an innocent victim of the wave of mass rape that advancing Russian troops inflicted on hundreds of thousands of women. However, no definitive proof of either her identity or what happened to her had ever emerged. Captain Haglund's clip, 25 minutes of which could be found on the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum's website, started by showing captured Germans, including fresh-faced teenagers, as they milled around while being guarded by American troops. Some ate, while others sat on the grass in the rural area. Later, the film showed locals cheering and waving white handkerchiefs before more German troops were seen, marching under guard. When the recording took a darker turn, there were scenes of dead and gravely wounded Germans strewn around. What exactly happened to them remained unclear, but the scenes of death and grave injury were not the reason Captain Haglund's clip took the Internet by storm. Just over 17 minutes into the clip, Haglund's camera settled on the 'Lost German Girl' as she swept her matted hair to the side to reveal more of her swollen black eye. Grouped: The woman's shown again sat with a group of male captives, holding what appears to be a cloth in her hands and she half-smiled as she spoke, despite her battered appearance It's known that 'Lost German Girl' had been with Germany's fleeing troops but her nondescript uniform did not give any hint of what role, if any, she had in the military. There's also no evidence to back up Captain Haglund's description of her as an 'SS girl'. She could have once been a medic, or even an aide. In the footage, she stared into he camera with one hand in her pocket and the other resting across her chest. In almost drunken fashion, she stepped forward, still staring intently, and clasps her hand to her swollen eye then tilts her head down, which caused her hair to flop over her face. The footage then cut again to focus just on her face. She was then seen holding what appeared to be a deck of cards, and appeared emotional like she was going to cry as the camera remained on her. As if embarrassed, she moved her head down towards her clasped hands. The camera then panned down to show the woman's pants and suspenders, which hung around her waist. Around 40 seconds later, after the footage cut to show a bloodied, half-naked man in a blanket laying on the ground, the woman appeared again. She was sat amongst a group of male captives, and she held what looked like a cloth. Despite her battered appearance, she offered a half-smile as she spoke to one of the men. That's the last we see of the 'Lost German Girl'. Captain Haglund remained in Germany until the end of the war in Europe. He was discharged in December 1945 and became a TV production manager. He died in 1972, aged 66, and he's not known to have commented on or even discussed the 'Lost German Girl' any further. Some people who saw the footage claimed the woman was named either Lara or Lore Bauer and born in 1921. She was said to have been a helper for the German air force, the Luftwaffe. Photos of a woman said to be Bauer looked similar to the woman in Captain Haglund's video, but there were no known documents to back up the theory that it was her. German man Carlos Xander spent almost two years documenting his attempts to find the identity of 'Lost German Girl' on his blog of the same name. He recounted how the first attempt to trace her in the Internet era was in 2006. Xander then expanded on the theory that Bauer was the Lost German Girl. Bauer was allegedly born in Austria in 1921 and was said to have survived the war and gone on to work for U.S. airline Pan Am, retiring in 1985 and passing away in 1994. The blogger pointed out that there were no records of the described Lore or Lara Bauer in German or Austrian archives. Xander also recounted a 2013 post from a man who claimed that the Lost German Girl was his grandmother and she was called Mathilde. Sleuths also traced the road that the woman was filmed walking down - between Pilsen and Rokycany - and they returned to the site to take photos and videos.
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
The lasting impact of Trump's immigration crackdown on Chicago students
CHICAGO — When President Donald Trump took office and declared Chicago 'ground zero' for the largest deportation operation in U.S. history, Alma Duran, 43, said her 10-year-old twins asked why their classes at an elementary school in Pilsen were deserted. She told them some kids and parents were scared to come in for fear of getting detained and deported, and she explained the concept of the United States border to her children for the first time — that they were born in Chicago and had documents that some of their classmates might not have. 'And even then, my kids were like, 'How is this possible? How can they be so afraid that they don't even want to come to school? … Mommy, you always say going to school is good. How is it not good now for some friends?'' Duran remembered them asking her. Trump's hard-line immigration policy has taken a deep emotional toll on communities with large undocumented populations. And though attendance at Perez has slowly recovered in the months since Trump took office, fear and anxiety linger among parents, teachers and students at some Chicago public schools. Data obtained by the Tribune through a Freedom of Information Act request shows that attendance rates fell at all schools across the district the week of Jan. 20, when the 47th president was sworn in. Over 50% of students attending the 10 schools that experienced the biggest attendance drops are Latino, according to enrollment data on the district's website. The names of the schools are being withheld at Chicago Public Schools' request, out of concern for potential retaliation from the federal government. While the district has taken steps to respond, parents and those working with students describe the effect of Trump's immigration policy changes as insurmountable. It will likely have long-term effects, they say. Students carry a heavy burden worrying about whether their parents will be swept up by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Meanwhile, the counseling support they need to relieve their worry is spread thin, said Roy, a teacher at a South Side elementary school whose last name is not being used out of safety concerns for his students. 'We do have counselors, but they don't speak Spanish,' he said. 'That's a resource that a lot of schools need now, especially with newcomers.' CPS did not respond to a request for comment. Emotional toll Headlines about young U.S. citizens being deported by ICE have trickled into school settings, said Ana Espitia, a local school council member and crossing guard at an elementary school in Little Village, a neighborhood known for its strong Mexican American culture. One migrant kindergartner has repeatedly come to school in tears, worried immigration officials might arrest his mom or dad, and that he wouldn't see them again, Espitia said. 'A lot of times, kids use being sick as an excuse. They say they have a headache, or their stomach hurts,' Espitia said. In some cases, students are bullying each other, saying they hope Trump will deport the other, according to Rocio Becerril, an immigration attorney who is an authorized vendor with CPS. She referenced an 11-year-old who died from suicide in Texas amid deportation rumors at school. 'This anti-immigrant sentiment is (likely) coming from their parents,' Becerril surmised. 'But for that information to get to them is disheartening.' Becerril leads Know Your Rights presentations to CPS parents and said that in recent weeks, fewer people have attended those sessions. 'People just curl up and pull away,' she said. 'There's so much information out there, and there's so much misinformation.' Inauguration Day Parents recounted a significant psychological effect on their kids at a Back of the Yards elementary school where two U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials tried to enter on the Friday after Trump's inauguration. The district sparked a panic when it falsely proclaimed ICE agents had tried to enter the building. 'They're going to deport everyone who has our skin color,' an Ecuadorian migrant student, Aaron, said to his mom, Mary, at dismissal outside the school three days later, as she quieted his nerves. Roy, the teacher at the South Side elementary school, teaches a class of all bilingual second-grade students, many of whom stayed home the last two weeks of January, which began with Trump's inauguration. It was unusual, he said, because before those weeks, his students had almost perfect attendance. And it coincided with standardized testing, he said. A Tribune review of CPS attendance data at Roy's school confirmed his account. 'It was definitely difficult for teachers to continue instruction as normal,' he said. 'It's not something that these (students) should be worried about. … They should be focused on their learning.' There are students in his classroom from Venezuela, Honduras, Guatemala and Mexico, and he said they are 'resilient.' He tries to maintain routines and positivity with their families. The district does not track the citizenship status of its students because federal law states that all children in the United States, including immigrants, have the right to a public education. CPS officials attributed the decline in attendance on Jan. 22, after the four-day weekend, to concerns about immigration enforcement across the city, while recognizing other factors, such as unusually cold weather, illness and transportation barriers. Attendance at schools that experienced the biggest drop in the first week has steadily returned to a normal range, according to the data obtained by the Tribune. Ongoing concerns Outside a high school in Little Village on a recent afternoon in April, Kimberly Atencia confirmed that she kept her son home during the first two weeks of Trump's presidency. Atencia, who is from Colombia, said the school serves a large population of migrants who arrived on buses from the southern border in August 2022. The school had one of the highest attendance drops. It experienced a roughly 20% decline in average attendance rates between the week before and after Trump was inaugurated. The same weeks in previous years did not experience the same fluctuation, data shows. 'The numbers here have mostly returned to normal,' Atencia said. 'But immigration enforcement activity in the area still sometimes makes people stay indoors.' In April, such immigration enforcement acts included emailed notices from the Department of Homeland Security instructing migrants to leave the U.S. or 'the government will find you,' numerous asylum-seekers told the Tribune. The notices state that DHS is exercising its discretion to terminate parole, a form of legal entry that was expanded under the administration of former President Joe Biden. They were sent to individuals, including U.S. citizens, seemingly without reason, said Nubia Willman, former deputy chief of staff and director of the Office of New Americans under ex-Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot. The notices have caused some people to self-deport, Willman said. 'Because everyone's situation is different, it's important folks get a consultation from a licensed attorney or accredited representative to make sure they are making decisions based on facts,' she said. To help families with CPS students who received notices cope with an overwhelming amount of uncertainty, Juan Carlos Ocon, the principal of a high school in Pilsen, sent an email reviewed by the Tribune to his student body on April 15, urging his school's community to continue to 'lead with empathy and support.' 'If your student or someone in your family has received this letter … please inform me immediately,' he wrote. 'I will personally meet with the student/family and ensure they are connected with an attorney who can help them understand their rights and navigate the process.' Asked for comment, Ocon did not respond. Quelling grief and anxiety The district is taking proactive measures to make sure schools are 'safe places,' where fear is left at the door, said Bianca Ramos, senior mental health consultant at Lurie's Children Hospital's Center for Childhood Resilience. She partners with the CPS Office of Social Emotional Learning to lead trainings for school counselors, clinicians and other staff members who directly work with kids. Schools reach out to parents proactively, rather than waiting for families to come to them, Ramos said. They've adjusted their signage and provided virtual and other more flexible scheduling options for classes. 'When we talk to kids, we make sure that they're limiting their media exposure or speaking to trusted adults so that they can get the resources and the support that they need,' she said. Nonprofit organizations and other groups have also stepped in, but say that more needs to be done. Children don't often have the language to express their anxieties, said Silvia Rodriguez Vega, author of 'Drawing Deportation: Art and Resistance Among Immigrant Children.' Vega spent 10 years researching immigrant children in Arizona and California to provide accounts of children's challenges with deportation under previous presidential administrations. She suggested that schools provide more art-making opportunities for immigrant students. All children are naturally creative, she said, but those from low-income families often lack access to various art forms. 'Art can be literally a lifeline when they face a lot of uncertainty, a lot of fear, like many children currently do,' Vega said. In January, ICE visited the apartment complex where Rossyel Ward, a migrant from Venezuela, has settled in Chicago, she said. She wasn't home at the time, but said she heard from her neighbors, who are also migrants. She has two kids who attend an elementary school in Pilsen, and although she was terrified, she sent them to school anyway. 'I can't pass that fear on to my children,' she said. 'It would stay with them.' Under Trump, she said, she 'feels the authoritarianism in a different way' than what she experienced in Venezuela under the government of President Nicolás Maduro. She joined a parent mentor group at her kids' school that she said gives her strength. They reach out to other migrant families who are scared. 'You can't really form an opinion based on the politics of the government that's receiving you — you just have to adjust to it,' she said. 'As migrants, we have to make do.'
