Memorial Day - The day we celebrate those that gave everything, in the name of his/her country. While there have been many that have served, I want to take time to acknowledge my Grandma Geniel's oldest brother, Leo. This is a bit of a side-shoot from the original intent of this blog, as he is not a direct ancestor of myself and I do not have a picture of his grave site, but I think he needs to be mentioned, if for nothing else than the impression he has made on me.
 |
| Leo Dean Hymas 1944 |
Growing up, we did not see Uncle Leo often. He and his wife Amy lived in Washington. I do remember though when they would come visit how very, very kind they were. For some reason, the thing I remember most from when we were little was sitting around playing cards during a family get together. I believe it was Thanksgiving. Leo and Amy both sat down and played cards with my cousins and I. This was back when Grandma Webb still lived in Hill Haven in Richmond.
 |
| Leo and Amy Hymas |
I remember the first time I heard his story. My grandma had invited him to share it with her family. I remember sitting in her basement in Smithfield, listening to him relate what happened while he was serving in the Unites States Army in 1945 and his involvement with the liberation of Buchenwald concentration camp when he was only 19.
Previous to this, he did not talk much about his experience during the war. I remember him saying that there were people trying to discount the horror of the holocaust. He could not let that happen, so starting in about 1997, he traveled around the world recounting what happened from his point of view. To this day, I am still in awe of Uncle Leo!
I do not feel that I could ever do justice to his story by retelling it, so rather, I will link you to some other sources. Some of the links below are articles of him telling his story, others are videos. (Links open a new browser window.)
Thank you for taking the time to read through Uncle Leo's story!
Thank you for taking the time to read through Uncle Leo's story!
"Leo's unit was assigned to Patton's Third Army; they fought their way east across Germany until on April 9, 1945, they reached the town of Weimar. This was the day that changed Leo’s life forever. Not far from the city, in thick woods, a fence stood half-hidden in the trees. Suspecting a prisoner-of-war camp, Leo’s Commanding Officer ordered him to investigate. Leo, thus became a part of the American military team that became liberators the Nazi concentration camp Buchenwald, near the German town of Weimer. He advanced until he reached a towering, electrified fence--and beyond it, silence.'"
"'I was blessed to help free many oppressed people,' Hymas said. 'What tiny little bit I did to help overcome that terrible, awful wickedness, as difficult as it was, was the best thing I have ever done in my life.'"
"Rabbi Lau, the youngest survivor of Buchenwald, thanked the American people for the liberation of the Nazi death camps. The Rabbi tied the upcoming Holiday of Passover to the Jewish experience in the holocaust. 'This is the opportunity to thank you, to thank the American people, who came finally in 1945, April, to take us out not from slavery to freedom but from death to life.'
He related how Leo Hymas, one of the US soldiers who liberated Buchenwald begged for Rabbi Lau’s forgiveness for coming too late to liberate the camps."
Video included of Rabbi Lau relating to President Barak Obama when he met Leo
Video of Leo's complete testimony. It is almost 3 hours long.
Written documents of Leo's testimony from The Voices of World War II.
Edit:
In searching for documentation about his father, Samuel Leo Hymas, I found these videos put together by Leo's grandson, Cory Hymas.
Leo D. Hymas Military Memorial
Leo's full military funeral
Leo D Hymas Memorial Full Video
Tribute to Leo.
Edit 6/9/2017
The above information are the words of Leo. Over the years there has been some discrepancies uncovered. While I was gathering links to add, I also came across alternative sources saying that Leo was not as involved in liberating Buchenwald as he claimed. Indeed, I modified some details of my post so as this discrepancy was not readily searchable simply from my words. I believed that what I previously had read, was just critics trying to down play the Holocaust. However, since the original posting of this, I have realized all information should be given. The information I removed from my post was simply that Leo was part of the 97th Infantry division. In his own words, "we were assigned to General Patton's Third Army, the 97th Third Infantry Division, 303rd Infantry Regiment, Company H, Heavy Weapons." Referenced here, on page 6, a typed version, also linked above, with his testimony. Anyone that searched Leo could find this information, there is no reason for me to leave it out.
There are claims that the 97th was no where near Buchenwald, but rather they were involved with the Flossenbürg concentration camp; some 150 miles difference. When reading this history of the 97th Division, it matches the accounts of Leo's testimony almost exactly. According to that account, the 303rd Infantry Regiment was in Siegburg on April 9th and then on April 14th they approached Leverkusen, approximately 35 miles directly north. They then continued north to Dusseldorf. I bring up these dates because Buchenwald was liberated on April 11th. No where near where the 303rd was.
As reported by this article on the Army website, it states that the 97th "assisted the sick and dying, buried the dead, interviewed former prisoners and helped gather evidence against former camp officers and guards for the upcoming war crimes trials" at Flossenbürg. Brigadier General Halsey is mentioned as inspecting the camp on April 30th. On page 11 of the above linked testimony, Leo also mentions his general is General Halsey.
With that information added, I would be remiss in saying that everything should be discounted. If you read the account of the 97th and 303rd Infantry, they obviously played a huge part in World War II. Perhaps there is something that is in conjunction with how the army works that I am not aware of that makes it possible that Leo's story is 100% accurate and he was part of the Buchenwald liberation. But from what I can see, it is more accurate that he assisted with things once Flossenbürg was liberated by the 90th infantry.
I simply came back to correct my post, to add details that may or may not be applicable to Leo's story. As I looked deeper for references, I found more and more that discredits his story that he shared. However, he was still there. He likely still saw things that many of us cannot fathom. He still deserves respect.
***To see the purpose of starting this blog, please click here.***
Edit:
In searching for documentation about his father, Samuel Leo Hymas, I found these videos put together by Leo's grandson, Cory Hymas.
Leo D. Hymas Military Memorial
Leo's full military funeral
Leo D Hymas Memorial Full Video
Tribute to Leo.
Edit 6/9/2017
The above information are the words of Leo. Over the years there has been some discrepancies uncovered. While I was gathering links to add, I also came across alternative sources saying that Leo was not as involved in liberating Buchenwald as he claimed. Indeed, I modified some details of my post so as this discrepancy was not readily searchable simply from my words. I believed that what I previously had read, was just critics trying to down play the Holocaust. However, since the original posting of this, I have realized all information should be given. The information I removed from my post was simply that Leo was part of the 97th Infantry division. In his own words, "we were assigned to General Patton's Third Army, the 97th Third Infantry Division, 303rd Infantry Regiment, Company H, Heavy Weapons." Referenced here, on page 6, a typed version, also linked above, with his testimony. Anyone that searched Leo could find this information, there is no reason for me to leave it out.
There are claims that the 97th was no where near Buchenwald, but rather they were involved with the Flossenbürg concentration camp; some 150 miles difference. When reading this history of the 97th Division, it matches the accounts of Leo's testimony almost exactly. According to that account, the 303rd Infantry Regiment was in Siegburg on April 9th and then on April 14th they approached Leverkusen, approximately 35 miles directly north. They then continued north to Dusseldorf. I bring up these dates because Buchenwald was liberated on April 11th. No where near where the 303rd was.
As reported by this article on the Army website, it states that the 97th "assisted the sick and dying, buried the dead, interviewed former prisoners and helped gather evidence against former camp officers and guards for the upcoming war crimes trials" at Flossenbürg. Brigadier General Halsey is mentioned as inspecting the camp on April 30th. On page 11 of the above linked testimony, Leo also mentions his general is General Halsey.
With that information added, I would be remiss in saying that everything should be discounted. If you read the account of the 97th and 303rd Infantry, they obviously played a huge part in World War II. Perhaps there is something that is in conjunction with how the army works that I am not aware of that makes it possible that Leo's story is 100% accurate and he was part of the Buchenwald liberation. But from what I can see, it is more accurate that he assisted with things once Flossenbürg was liberated by the 90th infantry.
I simply came back to correct my post, to add details that may or may not be applicable to Leo's story. As I looked deeper for references, I found more and more that discredits his story that he shared. However, he was still there. He likely still saw things that many of us cannot fathom. He still deserves respect.
***To see the purpose of starting this blog, please click here.***
