Howard Melton remembered | Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle

Howard Melton remembered 

 

Howard Melton, a Glendale Holocaust survivor and Holocaust education volunteer, died Aug. 25, 2021. 

In life, Melton talked about how he was driven to tell people his story. He did so for school groups and newspapers. His video testimony is on file with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. 

“I tell the stories because, what brought on the Holocaust? Hate, right?” Melton told the Chronicle in 2016.  “Treat the other person the way you would like to be treated.” 

Melton spent close to four years being transported among various camps and ghettos until, at the age of 14, he was marched out of Germany’s Dachau concentration camp as winter was giving way to spring in 1945. The German soldiers knew the war was ending and they abandoned the marching prisoners, after threatening to kill them in a ravine.  

Then, Melton remembered: “… we saw some tanks coming down the hill with white stars. We didn’t know Americans used white stars. We didn’t know who they were. The first tank that came into the hill, when it left it was very clean. People were crying and kissing it.” 

Melton was an active speaker for the Nathan and Esther Pelz Holocaust Education Resource Center, a program of Milwaukee Jewish Federation. 

Beloved husband of Evelyn Melton (nee Cohen) for 70 wonderful years. Loving father of David (Nancy Segal) Melton, Deborah (Steven) Lechter, Robert Melton, and Alan (Wendy) Melton. Proud grandfather of Jessica (Robert) Galassi; Adam (Christina) and Eli (Stefanie) Lechter; Michelle (Kevin Malone), Joseph, Samuel and Joshua Melton; H. Melt; and Ryann (Justin) Balzola and great-grandfather of Max, Jack, Gabriel, Brody, Bailey, Emilia, Teddy and the late Aviv. Dear friend of Albert Beder.  

Private graveside funeral service held on Aug. 29 with Rabbi Joel Alter officiating. Goodman-Bensman Whitefish Bay Funeral Home assisted the family. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions to Congregation Beth Israel Ner Tamid or HERC appreciated.