DAYS OF REMEMBRANCE

DAYS OF REMEMBRANCEMay 1-8, 2016

DAYS OF REMEMBRANCEEach year, the United States HolocaustMemorial Museum leads the nation incommemorating Days of Remembrance.2

DAYS OF REMEMBRANCEDays of Remembrance wasestablished by the U.S. Congress tomemorialize the six million Jewsmurdered in the Holocaust—as well asthe millions of non-Jewish victims—ofNazi persecution.3

DAYS OF REMEMBRANCEMillions of ordinary people witnessed the crimes of theHolocaust—in the countryside and city squares, in storesand schools, in homes, and workplaces.Across Europe, the Nazisfound countless helpers whowillingly collaborated or werecomplicit in the crimesthrough their inactions.The banner reads: “The Jews are our misfortune.”4

DAYS OF REMEMBRANCEThe victims had no control over their fates.5

DAYS OF REMEMBRANCEThe rescuers, on the other hand, made choices. They choseto risk their own lives, their families’ lives, and their homes tohelp save thousands of innocents.In 1953, the state of Israel established Yad Vashem, theHolocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Authority, inorder to document and record the history of the Jewish peopleduring the Holocaust as well as to acknowledge the countlessnon-Jewish individuals who risked their lives to save Jews.6

DAYS OF REMEMBRANCEYad Vashem began to award the title “Righteous Among theNations” in 1963, and since that time—26,119 rescuers from51 countries—have been acknowledged for their efforts.This presentation commemorate the actions and stories of thefive Americans, ordinary people who through their actionsbecame extraordinary. Their acts of courage—to interveneand help rescue—those being persecuted by the Nazis andwho have been awarded the title of “Righteous Among theNations.”7

DAYS OF REMEMBRANCEVarian Fry, a 32 year old Harvard-educatedclassicist and journalist from New York City,serving as a foreign correspondent whosaved thousands of endangered refugeeswho were caught in the Vichy French zoneescape from Nazi terror during World WarII. This man, known as “the AmericanSchindler,” died in obscurity and withoutrecognition.8

DAYS OF REMEMBRANCEDespite having had no training in underground work and noknowledge of forgers, black marketeers, or secret passages,within 24 hours after his arrival in France Fry committedhimself to a mission that saved prominent persons such asartists Marc Chagall and Max Ernst, writer Hannah Arendt,and sculptor Jacques Lipchitz.Fry said, “I stayed because the refugees needed me. But ittook courage, and courage is a quality that I hadn't previouslybeen sure I possessed.”9

DAYS OF REMEMBRANCEIn 1991, 50 years after his courageous actions in Francesaved thousands of innocent lives and 24 years after hisdeath, the United States Holocaust Memorial Council awardedthe Eisenhower Liberation Medal to Varian Fry.In 1994, he was also honored by Yad Vashem as a “RighteousAmong the Nations” — the first American recipient of Israel’shighest honor for rescuers during the Holocaust.10

DAYS OF REMEMBRANCEWaitstill Sharp was a minister in Wellesley, Massachusetts, andhis wife Martha a noted social worker. In 1939, the Sharpsaccepted an invitation by the Unitarian Service Committee tohelp members of the Unitarian church in Czechoslovakia,leaving their own children in the care of others.11

DAYS OF REMEMBRANCEArriving in Prague, the Sharps aided a number of Jews toleave the country, which had come under Nazi control. Theycontinued their charitable work until August 1939, leavingPrague when warned of their possible arrest by the Gestapo.In June 1940, the Sharps landed in Lisbon, Portugal, tocontinue helping refugees from war-torn France. Making theirway into Vichy-controlled France, they sought ways to helpfugitives from Nazi terror, Jews and non-Jews alike.12

DAYS OF REMEMBRANCEThe Sharps’ activities included registering refugees, bringingapplicants to the attention of embassies, finding thescholarships or employment necessary for emigration,securing releases from prisons, and arranging travel to saferdestinations in London, Paris, or Geneva. They facedenormous bureaucratic hurdles at every step.Martha Sharp was the first woman from the United States tobe so honored by the “Righteous Among the Nations.” TheSharps were the second and third U.S. citizens, after Fry, toreceive this title in 2006.13

DAYS OF REMEMBRANCEIn 1941, twenty-six year old Lois Gunden,an American French teacher from Goshen,Indiana, came to work with the MennoniteCentral Committee in southern France. Farfrom her home, she would become therescuer of children of a different nationality,religion and background.14

DAYS OF REMEMBRANCEGunden went to France to serve with the Mennonite CentralCommittee. She joined the Secours Mennonite aux Enfants inLyon and was sent to establish a children’s home in CanetPlage, located on the Mediterranean Sea.The children’s center became a safe haven for the children ofSpanish refugees as well as for Jewish children, many ofwhom were smuggled out of the nearby internment camp ofRivesaltes. She interceded to save Jewish children, includingreassuring parents that she would take care of them, andshield them from the Nazis.15

DAYS OF REMEMBRANCEIn November 1942, the Germans occupied southern France.Although she was considered an enemy alien after the UnitedStates entered the war, she continued to run the children’scenter.Two months later, she was detained by the Germans until shewas released in 1944 in a prisoner exchange, later returningto her home in Indiana.In 2013, she was recognized by Yad Vashem as “RighteousAmong the Nations.”16

DAYS OF REMEMBRANCEIn 2015, Yad Vashem posthumouslyrecognized Master Sergeant RoddieEdmonds as Righteous Among theNations. He is the first Americansoldier to be so recognized.17

DAYS OF REMEMBRANCEEdmonds shipped out in December 1944 with the 106thInfantry Division. He was captured with thousands of othersoldiers in the Battle of the Bulge.On Christmas Day, he and the others arrived in Stalag IX-B,a Prisoner of War (POW) camp known as “Bad Orb” thathoused more than 25,000 soldiers at a time.Thirty days later, Edmonds and the other noncommissionedofficers were moved to Stalag IX-A with 1,275 other soldiers.As a Master Sergeant, he was the senior noncommissionedofficer among the men.18

DAYS OF REMEMBRANCEThe Wehrmacht (German armed forces) had a strict anti-Jewpolicy and segregated Jewish POWs from non-Jews. On theeastern front, captured Jewish soldiers in the Russian armyhad been sent to extermination camps.At the time of Edmonds’ capture, the most infamous Nazideath camps were no longer fully operational, so JewishAmerican POWs were instead sent to slave labor campswhere their chances of survival were low.19

DAYS OF REMEMBRANCEU.S. soldiers had been warned that Jewish fighters amongthem would be in danger if captured and were told todestroy dog tags or any other evidence identifying them asJewish.On the prisoners’ first day at the camp, the Nazi soldiersmade their order very clear. Jewish American POWs wereto be separated from their fellow brothers in arms and reportto morning roll call.20

DAYS OF REMEMBRANCEEdmonds knew what was at stake. Turning to the rest of thePOWs, he said: “We are not doing that, we are all falling out.Geneva Convention affords only name, rank and serialnumber, and so that's what we're going to do. All of us arefalling out.”The next morning, all 1,275 soldiers stood at attention infront of their barracks. The German commander turned toEdmonds and said: “They cannot all be Jews.”21

DAYS OF REMEMBRANCEThen the Nazi officer barked at Edmonds, “I'm commandingyou to have your Jewish men step forward.” Edmondsrefused, and gave him his name, rank, and serial number.The commander pulled out his pistol and pressed it intoEdmonds' forehead. “You will have your Jewish men stepforward or I will shoot you on the spot.”22

DAYS OF REMEMBRANCEEdmonds replied: “We are allJews here. If you are going toshoot, you are going to have toshoot all of us because we knowwho you are and you’ll be triedfor war crimes when we win thiswar.”Edmonds’ choice and action set an example for 1,275 soldiersas they stood united against the barbaric evil of the Nazis.Over 200 Jewish American soldiers were saved that day.23

DAYS OF REMEMBRANCEOur modern military was forgedin the fight against Nazi tyranny.To defeat Hitler we mobilized allof the strength that we couldmuster, and in that effort wewitnessed many of our finesthours as a military and indeed,as a country.24

DAYS OF REMEMBRANCEToday we carry forward the proudlegacy of men and women of the UnitedStates Army who played avital role in liberating the camps atBuchenwald, Dora-Mittelbau,Flossenbürg, Dachau, and Mauthausen.American forces not only brought freedom to the survivors ofNazi horrors, they also made sure that in its aftermath theworld would know what had happened.25

DAYS OF REMEMBRANCEIn the days after Allied forces captured the first concentrationcamps, Generals Dwight Eisenhower, George Patton, andOmar Bradley themselves inspected the camps, and saw thehorrors that had occurred.They were, in Eisenhower’swords, atrocities “beyond theAmerican mind to comprehend.”26

DAYS OF REMEMBRANCEEisenhower ordered every American soldier in the area whowas not on the front lines to tour these camps, so that theycould themselves see what they were fighting against, andwhy they were fighting. These soldiers became not onlyliberators, but witnesses to one of the greatest massacres inhistory.27

DAYS OF REMEMBRANCEThe commitment of our forces to thesurvivors of Nazi atrocities did notend with liberation.In the aftermath of war, we cared forsurvivors and we helped reunitefamilies. We provided both physicaland spiritual nourishment to thesurvivors of the Holocaust.28

DAYS OF REMEMBRANCEDays of Remembrance raises awareness that democraticinstitutions and values are not simply sustained,but need to be appreciated, nurtured, and protected. It alsoclearly illustrates the roots and ramifications of prejudice,racism, and stereotyping in any society.29

DAYS OF REMEMBRANCEMore importantly, silence and indifference to the suffering ofothers, or to the infringement of civil rights in any society,can—however unintentionally—perpetuate these problems.30

“Let us not forget, after all, thereis always a moment when moralchoice is made . And so wemust know these good peoplewho helped Jews during theHolocaust. We must learn fromthem, and in gratitude and hope,we must remember them.”—Elie WieselSurvivor of the Auschwitz, Buna,Buchenwald, and Gleiwitzconcentration camps31

yadvashem.org/yv/en/righteous/index.asp32

Defense Equal OpportunityManagement Institute,Patrick Air Force Base, FloridaMay 2016Dawn W. SmithDEOMI Research DirectorateAll photographs are public domain and are from various sources, ascited.The findings in this report are not to be construed as an officialDEOMI, U.S. military services, or Department of Defense position,unless designated by other authorized documents.33

DAYS OF REMEMBRANCE In the days after Allied forces captured the first concentration camps, Generals Dwight Eisenhower, George Patton, and Omar Bradley themselves inspected the camps, and saw the horrors that had occurred. They were, in Eisenhower’s words