A couple who survived the Holocaust has received their "wish of a lifetime" with a monumental visit to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in D.C.
Albert Madienbaum, 90, and Esther Madienbaum, 81, were children when they were separated from their families in France during World War II. They later learned that many of their loved ones died in Nazi concentration camps.
"In Aushwitz, my mother, her grandmother, a lot of my family," Albert said.
For years, the Maidenbaums, who now live in Brooklyn, New York, have dreamed of visiting the Holocaust museum. That dream became reality Friday thanks to Wish of a Lifetime, a nonprofit organization that grants wishes to the elderly and shares their stories.
Albert and Esther took a private tour of the museum with their daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter.
Esther said she recognized a name in one exhibit.
"The priest helped my mother to save me and my sister. We were hidden in a small village," she said.
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In the museum, the family passed through a train car like the ones that carried prisoners to the camps, beneath the arch that says "Work Makes You Free" and in the barracks where prisoners lived in crowded quarters, they saw shoes of the children and looked for a familiar face on the wall.
"It reminds me of things that I knew that I want to forget a little bit because emotions run high," Esther said.
"I'm glad I came and I saw all that," Albert said.
Museum staff surprised the couple with documents that show what happened to their family members and a photograph of their cousin Maurice.
