This tweet ended up going more viral than I could have ever anticipated, and a word of thanks must be issued towards the Auschwitz Memorial for sharing this tweet. It sparked media attention and spurred an international hunt for the name of the soldier who had placed within my great-grandmother the hope of a new life. Incredibly, after eight hours, the tweet had achieved over one million interactions. Whilst in the midst of piecing together the story of this banknote with my great-grandmother, I received a direct message containing the identity of the soldier who had liberated my great-grandmother back in 1945: Private Hayman Shulman.
After doing some more digging, it was soon confirmed that it must have indeed been Private Hayman Shulman who’d written the note. A few days later, a meeting had been organised between myself, my great-grandmother and the son and daughter-in-law of my great-grandmother’s liberator.
We were speechless. My great-grandmother couldn’t believe that we had actually found the name of the first person who had shown her kindness after the war and had been able to meet with his family. After all, only a day earlier, she’d laughed as I jokingly suggested I’d be able to uncover the name of this soldier in under twenty four hours.
To have discovered the identity of the soldier who had scribbled a message of hope on to a banknote 75 years ago is nothing short of a miracle. As the number of survivors and liberators dwindles over time, meetings like these are increasingly rare. These ‘miracle meetings’ are the ultimate proof that the Nazis didn’t win.
Our experience of meeting with Private Shulman’s family was surreal, and it’s so amazing that we were able to use social media in such a positive way - to connect two dots from opposite ends of the world. I sincerely hope we can learn from this what’s possible when we use social media for good.
Zoom call - Arlene and Jason Shulman (son and daughter in law) are in the top left. Myself and lily are in the top right and my grandparents (Lily’s daughter and son in law) are in the bottom.