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We Remember
Once again we take time out to remember and reflect on a great horror of the 20th century, THE HOLOCAUST (the SHOAH). April 29th, the Holocaust Remembrance Day, is a special day. The world will be called to say, NEVER AGAIN.
We are called to remember that from 1933 to 1945 darkness fell on Europe. The evils of Nazi Germany swept Europe. Millions of people were murdered. Men, women, and children became victims of Nazism because of their nationality, religion, political and social ideas.
- Approximately 22 extermination death camps and 2000 labor camps killed conservatively 11 million people, six million were Jews. A million and half Jewish children were murdered. The other millions were Slavs, Gypsies, Catholics, Protestants, Orthodox Christians, Jehovah Witnesses, and Russian soldiers.
- The notorious death camps like Auschwitz-Birkenau, Treblinka, Majdanek, Belsen-Belsen, Bucheqald, Ravensbruck and Dachau remind us of man’s evil nature.
- Two thirds of the European Jewry were exterminated mainly because of their Jewish nationality and religion.
- The patches of color worn by concentration camp inmates identified the people in the camp. Yellow was for Jews, Red for a political prisoner, Yellow and Red combined to form a Star of David for Jews imprisoned for political activity, Green for professional criminals, Black for social outcasts, Pink for homosexuals, Brown for Gypsies and Purple for Jehovah Witnesses.
- The Yad Vashem is the official Israeli national complex for commemoration of the Holocaust. Situated in Jerusalem, it has buildings and areas. The archive building houses documents, photographs, tapes on the Holocaust; the Hall of Names records the names of more than 3.2 million victims; the library, the Hall of Remembrance names the Nazi murder sites, and other areas.
- One of the most impressive areas of Vad Vashem is the Avenue of the Righteous Among the Nations. It is dedicated to approximately 19,000 non-Jews who helped to save Jews. Among the names are the Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg who issued 4,500 protective passports to save Hungarian Jews; the German industrialist Oskar Schindler who saved more that 1200 Jews; a Dutch school teacher Joop Westerweel who smuggled over 200 Jews out of the Netherlands and the French Franciscan priest Fr. Marie Benoit who moved 30,000 Jews from Nice, France to Northern Italy by way of the Monastery connection.
A Poem by Anti-Nazi German Pastor, Martin Niemoller
First they came for the socialists and I did not speak out.
Then, they came for the Trade Unionists and I did not speak out.
Then they came for the Jews and I did not speak out.
Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak for me.
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