Reluctant Nazi: Hawaii Woman Reveals Past Pt. 2
Part 2: Hitler Poster Child Changes Life, Finds Hawaii Home
May 9 European ‘Victory Day’ Still Evokes Emotion 66 Years Later
Lara Yamada
POSTED: 11:30 pm HST May 9, 2011
HAWAII KAI, Hawaii -- “What I'm going to show you is the most offensive in the world,” said 82-year-old Else Lum, when she showed KITV4 reporter Lara Yamada an old flag in her home with a swastika on it.
“Up until that time I would have died for Hitler. I would have died for him,” she said, talking about her childhood.
She talked about her past, which is so unlike the present for Lum.
“The one thing people always ask me is 'What was it like to live in Nazi Germany?'” she said.
It was 1936.
8-year-old Else and her family were living in the booming port city of Bremen, Germany, and she was about to meet one of the most hated figures of our time.
“It was a Christmas party, you see all the big swastikas,” she asked, pointing to a black and white photo. “My brother and I were invited to this party.”
They were invited by Adolph Hitler himself. German’s former Chancellor had heard about a poem their mother wrote about the virtues of German youth.
That message, and their attractive family, would be exactly what he had been looking for.
“The poem was published and that's when it all started. There Hitler all of a sudden had his poster family,” she said.
“He declared himself to be the god father of the youngest child,” said Lum. “My oldest sister was put in charge of all of Northwest Germany for the indoctrination of young women.”
Hitler was building what he called “The Master Race.”
Three years later Hitler bombed Poland, the war started, and signs of Hitler’s most sinister plan appeared.
“They would bring truck loads of Jewish women to come and clean the streets and the women would make a sign that they were hungry,” she said, shaking her head.
“When the war ended and all of a sudden the curtains were drawn for the world to see,” she said, opening up a book with pictures of the victims of the Holocaust.
Only then, she says, did she and so many Germans realize the extent of what Hitler had done.
“This is the camp I visited afterwards,” she said, looking at the gruesome pictures in a book. “You see the ovens? Look at the bodies. I cried for 2 weeks,” she said.
But as the war winded down, her life would take an unexpected turn.
“My husband was a Hilo boy and Chinese,” said Lum.
Ken Lum, an air force pilot stationed at Bremen Airport, befriended her brother, met Else, and fell in love with her.
“He said I will bring her to Hawaii and add a few pounds too her which of course he did!” she said laughing.
“This is Jean Ariyoshi,” said Lum, pointing to a 1980’s picture of a group of women including the former governor’s wife.
She’s since spent decades absorbing Hawaiian culture, and using her past to uphold the truth.
“There is a strong movement going on to deny the holocaust,” she said.
She’s been particularly incensed by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad, who once called the Holocaust a myth.
“The eye witnesses are dying out and what happens if we don't speak up?” said Lum.
Lum then held up a certificate that said “Jews for Jesus.”
“I am now a member,” she said, laughing, A colorful life filled with lessons worth remembering.
“So as long as I have breath I will talk,” said Lum.
Lum now lives in Hawaii Kai. She's spent decades helping community groups in Hawaii and as a tour guide in Germany and around the islands.
She says she enjoys bringing out the good in German culture, including making gingerbread houses with children during the holidays.
Copyright 2011 by KITV.com
Read more: http://www.kitv.com/news/27835633/detail.html#ixzz1LyBIbVKg
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