WWII Soldier's Letter Reunites Holocaust Survivor With Family

When Naomi Kaplan approached British soldier Arthur Tyler amid the devastation of Bergen-Belsen in April 1945, she had one simple request: Please write to my family in America and tell them I'm alive.

Tyler didn't just promise. He actually wrote the letter.

That single act of compassion reunited Naomi with relatives in Houston and shaped the rest of her life. Born in Eastern Poland in 1920, she had survived three concentration camps: Auschwitz, Ravensbrück, and Bergen-Belsen.

The letter reached Naomi's uncle in Houston, though he was actually serving as port commander in Normandy at the time. His wife received it and immediately began working to bring Naomi home.

Just 11 months after liberation, Naomi arrived in New York on March 15, 1946. She built a life in Houston, where she lived until her death in 2016 at age 96.

For decades, her family knew the story but not the soldier's identity. Naomi remembered him only as the one soldier who kept his word when so many others made empty promises.

The missing pieces emerged during the COVID pandemic when Oxford researcher Myfanwy Lloyd combed through wartime records. She found the letters between Arthur and Naomi's sister Elizabeth, then tracked down Naomi's family through her nephew Benjamin Warren, who was board chair of Holocaust Museum Houston.

On the 80th anniversary of Bergen-Belsen's liberation, a permanent exhibit opened at the Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum in England. Many of Naomi's family members traveled there for the opening.

Now the story has come full circle. Holocaust Museum Houston opened "Letters from Liberation: Naomi and Arthur, a story of kindness" on March 12, running through August 2.

Sunny's Take

Naomi's granddaughter Elyse Kalmans says her grandmother never considered herself special, though her family knew otherwise. The exhibit features the original letters, biographies of both Naomi and Arthur, and artwork inspired by their story.

"It's this whole idea that just one act of kindness can really be so transformational," Kalmans told the Jewish Herald-Voice. "He helped my grandmother get to the United States quickly and also brought her family a measure of comfort."

The exhibit proves that keeping a simple promise can echo across generations. Arthur Tyler wrote one letter in 1945, and 80 years later, it's still bringing people together.