Members of the El Paso Holocaust Survivors’ Group attended the Days of Remembrance ceremony held Thursday at Soldier Hall. Photo by Julia Yubeta.
WBAMC hosts annual Days of Remembrance
More than 400 Soldiers and Fort Bliss staff attended the annual Days of Remembrance ceremony, presented this year by William Beaumont Army Medical Center, Thursday at Soldier Hall.
Congress established the Days of Remembrance as the U.S.’ annual commemoration of the Holocaust and to remind Americans of what can happen to a civilized people when bigotry, hatred and indifference rule. Congress also established the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, a permanent living memorial to the holocaust victims.
Holocaust Remembrance Day is Friday, and the museum has designated “Do Not Stand Silent: Remembering Kristallnacht 1938” as the focus for the 2008 observance.
The Fort Bliss ceremony began with Spc. Jude J. Pierre-Toussaint’s rendition of the national anthem. Even though all applause was to be held until after the guest speaker spoke, protocol was broken and the Soldier received a round of applause.
Nearly 70 years ago, the Nazis staged vicious pogroms – state sanctioned, anti-Jewish riots – called “Kristallnacht” against the Jewish community of Germany.
“Initially a cynical reference to alleged Jewish wealth – the literal meaning, ‘Night of Crystal’ – the name Kristallnacht is now translated as ‘Night of Broken Glass,’” said Wolfgang “Mike” Schkoll, guest speaker and a member of the Jewish War Veterans and El Paso Holocaust Survivors’ groups. Kristallnacht refers to the untold number of broken windows of synagogues, Jewish-owned stores, community centers and homes plundered and destroyed during the pogroms, said Schkoll.
For more than 48 hours, violent mobs – made up of Nazi Party officials, Nazi storm troopers, Hitler Youth dressed in street clothes and some civilians – stormed the streets of German cities assaulting Jews and vandalizing their property. During the riot, synagogues were set on fire as firefighters and police officers stood and watched.
“They were under orders to let the fires burn but to prevent the flames from spreading to other buildings,” said Schkoll. The mobs desecrated sacred artifacts such as Torah scrolls and ravaged Jewish cemeteries. About 100 innocent Jews lost their lives in the violence.
After these pogroms, Jews were arrested and sent to concentration camps, where they were later put to death. Schkoll’s remarks were personal, because some members of his family died while in these concentration camps.
“It is important to remember what happened 70 years ago, so it will never happen again,” Schkoll said.
During the ceremony, 11 candles were lit to honor the survivors and those who died during the Holocaust.
“The candles are a symbol of what they endured to gain freedom and represented the 11 concentration camps,” said Master Sgt. Sandra L. Ford, chief instructor of the Practical Nurse Course at WBAMC. Pfc. Nena M. Nena, a patient administration specialist at WBAMC, lit the candles.
Juergen Strauss, a holocaust survivor, was 14 years old when he was sent from Cologne, Germany, to a camp for children in Belfast, Ireland.
“I lived in Belfast until 1947, when I immigrated to the United States,” he said. Strauss said he does not remember when, but he received a letter from the Red Cross stating his parents were dead. He believes they died in Auschwitz.
The Jewish children who emigrated there were cared for by Jewish families in their homes. Later, a house was built to house them because there were too many children to live with the Jewish families. Even though the British Commonwealth wouldn’t pay for the housing, they sanctioned the immigration of the Jewish children to Belfast, Strauss said.
At the ceremony’s closing, Col. Karen M. Gausman, deputy commander of Patient Services and Nursing at WBAMC, presented certificates of appreciation to the Holocaust survivors as well as coins and certificates to the WBAMC participants. In closing, she reminded the audience to remember the lessons of the Holocaust and that the presentation was just an introduction to what the survivors endured.