Observance remembers Holocaust, showcases 'Acts of Courage'

Fort Huachuca, Arizona--"Learning from the Holocaust -- Acts of Courage" -- that was the theme for this year's Days of Remembrance observance held May 16 at Fitch Auditorium, Alvarado Hall, to honor the memory of those who died in the Holocaust, those who risked everything for the preservation of human life, and those who survived.

A candle lighting ceremony, a poem and reading of the Mourner's Kaddish followed a video and the keynote speaker's presentation.

In "Why We Remember," a video from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, Jewish men and women told how 6.5 million Jews and five million others were killed by the Nazi regime and its collaborators in concentration and labor camps during World War II while German citizens and people from other nations did nothing to stop it.

These innocent people were killed because they were of the wrong religion or ethnicity and had no way to protect themselves.

The video explained that, in addition to the Nazis, many people participated in the Holocaust.

There were the "people who follow orders without question, bystanders who watch and do nothing, ordinary men and women simply going with the flow."

A small minority, the rescuers, tried to save as many Jews as possible while putting themselves and their families at risk.

There were the American Soldiers who fought to win the war and helped end the atrocities. They were horrified when they arrived in the camps in 1945 and saw the conditions the occupants were forced to endure. It was a huge task to help bring humanity back to people who had been dehumanized for years, and to give them medical care.

Days of Remembrance is an opportunity to remember those who perished in the Holocaust and the efforts made to end it. It's a call to conscience, reminding people they can't stand by, indifferent to the suffering of others which still continues in parts of today's world.

"The important thing is that one should not become indifferent to the suffering of others, should not stand by and just raise one's hands and say 'there's nothing I can do. I am just … one person' because I think that everything one of us does matters," said one narrator in the video.

Following the video, City of Sierra Vista Mayor Rick Mueller thanked Fort Huachuca officials for inviting the city to participate and read the city's Days of Remembrance proclamation.

Keynote speaker Dr. Michael Rubinoff then spoke. The professor of European History with the College of Letters and Sciences at Arizona State University, addressed the theme: "Acts of Courage." He described the end of the war, the celebrations that followed and the daunting task of dealing with its aftermath.

Rubinov told how Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, supreme commander of the Allied forces, visited one of the concentration camps shortly after the war and immediately ordered photographic documentation as a record for future generations.

"He also said that for American Soldiers, who did not know what they were fighting for; now at least they would know what they were fighting against," Rubinov said.

Next, the professor spoke of the survivors.

"I have learned two things about Holocaust survivors. One, these are among the most caring and thoughtful people you will ever meet. What they experienced is almost beyond comprehension. Second, as survivors, each shoulders a burden like no other. Some are the singular survivors of their family. They live with a resolution seldom seen. They carry out their mission to share their stories with the world so that we never forget.

"Those who are here remind us about what they experienced, what they saw, and what they endured so that those of us born afterwards can relive the moments just like today so that we can tell our children about the 20th century's 'darkest hour.'"

He spoke directly to the history of the survivors honored during Fort Huachuca's observance, recounting some of their experiences, the suffering they endured and how they came to arrive in the United States.

"I salute all of you," he said. "I salute the people who helped you survive the brutality. I see through your stories that these were acts of courage."

Rubinov then told the story and showed a video of an Army Soldier, Master Sgt. Roddie Edmonds, who was the first American service member to receive Israel's highest honor, the title of Righteous among the Nations. To date, only five Americans have been recognized as being non-Jews who risked their lives to help Jews escape the Holocaust.

Captured by German forces in late 1944, and during his time as a prisoner of war, prison camp guards tried to separate Jewish soldiers from the American prisoners so they could be executed.

As the senior ranking soldier, Edmonds was asked to identify Jewish soldiers. He had all 1,200 inmates fall out at the designated time.

Edmonds answered, "We are all Jews here," which he reaffirmed even when the officer held a gun to his head and threatened to shoot him. Edmonds then gave his name, rank and serial number, as required by the Geneva Convention. When he told the officer to kill all the inmates since they knew who he was and he'd be tried for war crimes after the war, the officer withdrew. It's estimated his action saved 200 Allied and American Jewish soldiers.

Rubinov stated that Edmonds demonstrated the highest of American ideals and called his action "a heroic and inspiring act of courage.

"For over 200 years, [service members] have had our backs. May God bless all of you for serving our country so faithfully," he said.

Dr. Gail Wallen, founder and director of the military Holocaust education program and the director of Holocaust services at the Jewish Community Center in Tucson, spoke of her 15-year relationship with Fort Huachuca and how it led to the establishment of similar programs at other installations and in Germany.

"Fort Huachuca was the first. It all begins here," she said.

Col. Todd A. Berry, chief of staff, U.S. Army Intelligence Center of Excellence, then escorted Holocaust survivor Pawel Lichter and assisted him in lighting the first of nine candles as Sgt. Joshua Levy, master of ceremonies, read the death totals recorded at the concentration camps.

Lt. Col. Hans Joerge Trossen, chief German liaison officer, USAICoE, read "First They Came for the Jews," a poem by Martin Niemoller, a prominent Protestant pastor who emerged as an outspoken public foe of Adolf Hitler and spent the last seven years of Nazi rule in concentration camps.

Lichter ended the ceremony by reading the Mourner's Kaddish, a Jewish prayer said in honor of the deceased.

Berry then closed the ceremony by reminding the audience to take action, fight evil, and "leave the … world a better place."