Holocaust survivor connects with family of American soldier who liberated her

Lily Ebert never forgot about the kindness shown to her by an American soldier during the darkest time of her life.

Ebert, 90, was born in Hungary, and at 14, she was sent to Auschwitz. Her mother, brother, and sister were killed, and she survived being forced to work in a munitions factory and a death march. She was liberated in April 1945, but after going through so much trauma, she could not feel at ease.

One American approached her and gave her a German banknote inscribed with an optimistic message. "The start to a new life," he wrote. "Good luck and happiness." This man was "the first person who was kind and wasn't an enemy," Ebert told CNN, and she held onto the banknote, keeping it with her through moves to Switzerland, Israel, and London.

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After sharing this story with her 16-year-old great-grandson, Dov Forman, he tweeted photos of the banknote, hoping to learn the identity of the GI who helped Ebert. The man had also written "assistant to Chaplain Schachter" on the bill, and internet sleuths determined he was Private Hyman Schulman, a Jewish soldier from Brooklyn. He died seven years ago, but Ebert and Forman were able to set up a Zoom meeting with his children. "It means so much that we can now connect with the family," Ebert said. Catherine Garcia