As long as we live, they too will live, for they are now a part of us as We remember them.
When we are weary and in need of strength; We remember them.
When we are lost and sick at heart; We remember them.
When we have decisions that are difficult to make; We remember them.
When we have joy, we crave to share; We remember them.
When we have achievements that are based on theirs; We remember them.
A poem, titled "We Remember Them" by Sylvan Kames and Jack Riemer, was read by Sherwood "Woody" D. Goldberg during the Days of Remembrance Tuesday at Spates Community Center. This year's theme was "Beyond Religious Boundaries: Learning from the Holocaust."
Goldberg explained that the Holocaust was a deliberate and systematic execution of European Jews during World War II. He highlighted that it was not only Jews who died in these concentration camps. Of the estimated 6 million people who died of the genocide, many were handicap, mentally ill, gypsies or Jehovah Witnesses.
Goldberg said those inside of these concentration camps "never lost the will to resist." He had acknowledged that many were poorly fed, little sleep, inadequate housing and may have felt alone. Some survived, but some died.
"Humans can only endure so much," Goldberg said.
In the early 1960s when Goldberg was a young captain stationed in West Germany, he went to see the remnants of Dachau, a Nazi concentration camp in Germany. According to Goldberg, Dachau was a work camp with the motto, "Work will make you free."
"The smell of burned bodies still seemed to be an experience if not in reality, into my imagination," Goldberg said.
Survivors of these concentration camps are dying, but Goldberg said it is still possible to preserve their stories.
"We need to continue to teach about the Holocaust at our schools, synagogues, churches and an array of places in the community," Goldberg said.
A candle lighting ceremony during the remembrance was done to pay homage to the families annihilated and executed during the Holocaust.
Goldberg said "never again" should be the mantra to live by. He added that the mass genocide should teach everyone the importance of never forgetting about this atrocity.
Goldberg is a graduate of Dickinson College, the University of Pennsylvania and Temple University. He is a retired U.S. Army colonel. 'Since 2001, he was served as a civilian aide to the secretary of the Army in Washington, D.C.
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