By: Dallas Morning News Editorial – dallasnews.com
Max Glauben survived one of humanity’s darkest chapters and shines as one of Texas’ brightest lights
We might say Max Glauben started becoming the 2019 Texan of the Year in 1941 when he wriggled into a cramped smuggler’s space under the false bottom of a horse-drawn wagon to sneak out of the Warsaw Ghetto in search of food. He had a homemade tool, a funnel with a sharp end, with which to siphon rice or beans out of burlap shipping sacks.
The war had started two years before. Four hundred thousand Jews had been corralled into a tiny corner of Poland the size of Central Park, living nine to a room, with insufficient food and sanitation. Glauben made these trips many times, each time finding a clever way to sneak past Nazi guards, each time returning with a little food, a new weapon, or a report that he had successfully delivered a missive to the Jewish underground. He was 13.
A few weeks from now, Glauben will be 92. At 5-foot-3 he’s still small enough, and probably spry enough, to fit into a smuggler’s hold. His preoccupation these days is not with hiding things, but with bringing them into the light. Glauben is one of a rapidly shrinking number of survivors who can remember what is arguably humankind’s darkest chapter. He is a tireless speaker, sharing his incredible story of survival with schools, museums and civic groups as often as he can. He is a key player in the creation of the Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum.
https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/texan-of-the-year/2019/12/29/the-upstander/