By Deb Silverthorn

The Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum will pay tribute to Max Glauben, who has shared his Holocaust story with compassion, empathy and resilience for more than three-quarters of a century. Glauben has been named the 2021 Hope for Humanity honoree. The Tuesday, Nov. 16 event will begin in person with cocktails at 6 p.m., dinner at 7 p.m. and the program at 8 p.m. at the Fairmont Dallas. A virtual option for the program at 8 p.m. is also available, with login opening at 7:30 p.m.

 “We are thrilled to honor Max and are so excited for so many in the community to join us however they feel comfortable, whether in person or online,” said Museum President and CEO Mary Pat Higgins. “Honoring Max, who is absolutely one we all look to as a hope for humanity, we know both forums will carry a full house.”

At liberation, Glauben was a 17-year-old orphan who had lost his immediate family and survived five different concentration camps. Now 93, he has dedicated his life since then to honoring his family’s memory and that of the 6 million Jews who were murdered by the Nazis. 

“When we came together in 1980, we never imagined the Museum growing beyond the Jewish Community Center, certainly never to downtown Dallas. We had a plan for a small, but meaningful, museum and then we dreamt and we hoped,” said Glauben, who 40 years ago was one of the Museum’s founders.

“What we have, we never could have imagined but I am grateful every single day,” said Glauben. “This Museum came from CEOs, clergy, civic leaders and from so many community members, near and far.”

Glauben has spoken to audiences at the Museum since its founding and is featured in its Dimension in TestimonySM theater, part of the University of Southern California Shoah Foundation 3-D initiative. The Dallas Morning News 2019 Texan of the Year has spoken around the United States; was the subject of the documentary “Plagues of the Soul”; chaperoned 14 March of the Living Tours with Akiba Yavneh Academy; and this year published, with journalist Jori Epstein, “Upstander: How Surviving the Holocaust Sparked Max Glauben’s Mission to Dismantle Hate.”

The museum’s board chair, Mark Zilbermann, said: “Max represents so many survivors who have shared how they endured the worst of humanity, and how with hope and optimism they have worked to make the world a better place.” The event, the Museum’s major fundraiser, allows it to continue its “vitally important” mission, Zilbermann said.

The Holocaust “wasn’t a ‘Jewish problem,’ it was a human problem, and we can’t ever forget it, we can’t let it happen again. My children’s children, and theirs and forever, will learn, know and grow,” said Glauben. “The good souls, the donors, board, staff and guests of the Museum are the people who have built this beacon, which glows brightly.”

Guests of the virtual event will receive a link the day before. Guests attending in person will be required to show proof of full COVID-19 vaccination status or a negative COVID-19 test result taken within 48 hours of the event prior to entry. In accordance with Centers for Disease Control recommendations, the Museum asks that all guests, regardless of vaccination status, wear face masks inside the hotel when not eating or drinking.

For more information and registration, visit dhhrm.org/hope, call 469-399-5202 or email events@dhhrm.org.