DAYS OF REMEMBRANCE May 1 -8 2016

DAYS OF REMEMBRANCE May 1 -8, 2016

DAYS OF REMEMBRANCE Each year, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum leads the nation in commemorating Days of Remembrance. 2

DAYS OF REMEMBRANCE Days of Remembrance was established by the U. S. Congress to memorialize the six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust—as well as the millions of non-Jewish victims— of Nazi persecution. 3

DAYS OF REMEMBRANCE Millions of ordinary people witnessed the crimes of the Holocaust—in the countryside and city squares, in stores and schools, in homes, and workplaces. Across Europe, the Nazis found countless helpers who willingly collaborated or were complicit in the crimes through their inactions. The banner reads: “The Jews are our misfortune. ” 4

DAYS OF REMEMBRANCE The victims had no control over their fates. 5

DAYS OF REMEMBRANCE This presentation commemorates the actions of Master Sergeant Roddie Edmonds, an ordinary American soldier with an extraordinary sense of duty, responsibility, and dedication to his fellow human beings. 6

DAYS OF REMEMBRANCE Master Sergeant Roddie Edmonds, (first row, second from left) 7

DAYS OF REMEMBRANCE Edmonds shipped out in December 1944 with the 106 th Infantry Division. Edmonds was captured with thousands of other soldiers in the Battle of the Bulge. On Christmas Day, Edmonds and the others arrived in Stalag IX-B, a Prisoner of War (POW) camp known as “Bad Orb” that housed more than 25, 000 soldiers at a time. 8

DAYS OF REMEMBRANCE Thirty days later, Edmonds and the other noncommissioned officers were moved to Stalag IXA with 1, 275 other soldiers. As a Master Sergeant, he was the senior noncommissioned officer among the men. A POW ID tag from Stalag IXA 9

DAYS OF REMEMBRANCE The Wehrmacht (German armed forces) had a strict anti-Jew policy and segregated Jewish POWs from non-Jews. On the eastern front, captured Jewish soldiers in the Russian army had been sent to extermination camps. At the time of Edmonds' capture, the most infamous Nazi death camps were no longer fully operational, so Jewish American POWs were instead sent to slave labor camps where their chances of survival were low. 10

DAYS OF REMEMBRANCE U. S. soldiers had been warned that Jewish fighters among them would be in danger if captured and were told to destroy dog tags or any other evidence identifying them as Jewish. On the prisoners' first day at the camp, the Nazi soldiers made their order very clear. Jewish American POWs were to be separated from their fellow brothers in arms and report to morning roll call. 11

DAYS OF REMEMBRANCE Edmonds knew what was at stake. Turning to the rest of the POWs, he said: “We are not doing that, we are all falling out. Geneva Convention affords only name, rank and serial number, and so that's what we're going to do. All of us are falling out. ” 12

DAYS OF REMEMBRANCE Edmonds, was true to his word. The next morning, all 1, 275 soldiers stood at attention in front of their barracks. The German commander turned to Edmonds and said: “They cannot all be Jews. ” Edmonds replied: “We are all Jews here. ” 13

DAYS OF REMEMBRANCE Then the Nazi officer barked at Edmonds, “I'm commanding you to have your Jewish men step forward. ” Edmonds refused, and gave him his name, rank and serial number. The commander pulled out his pistol and pressed it into Edmonds' forehead. “You will have your Jewish men step forward or I will shoot you on the spot. ” Edmonds' replied, “If you are going to shoot, you are going to have to shoot all of us because we know who you are and you'll be tried for war crimes when we win this war. ” 14

DAYS OF REMEMBRANCE The major turned red, furious that a POW was challenging him, but he put his pistol in his holster and walked away. Edmonds’ choice and action set an example for 1, 275 soldiers as they stood united against the barbaric evil of the Nazis. Over 200 Jewish American soldiers were saved that day. 15

DAYS OF REMEMBRANCE Edmonds’ heroic story remained untold for decades. It wasn’t until after his death in 1985 that his son, the Reverend Chris Edmonds, discovered the remarkable truth about that day. He used his father's war diaries to find other men who corroborated the story, interviewed some of his father's fellow soldiers, and collected records about the regiment. 16

DAYS OF REMEMBRANCE In 1953, the state of Israel established Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Authority, in order to document and record the history of the Jewish people during the Holocaust as well as to acknowledge the countless non-Jewish individuals who risked their lives to save Jews. Yad Vashem began to award the title “Righteous Among the Nations” in 1963, and since that time— 26, 119 rescuers from 51 countries—have been acknowledged for their efforts. 17

DAYS OF REMEMBRANCE In 2015, Yad Vashem posthumously recognized Master Sergeant Roddie Edmonds as Righteous Among the Nations. He is the first American soldier, and only one of five Americans, to be so recognized. Chris Edmonds accepted his father's Righteous Among the Nations award at the Embassy of Israel in Washington, D. C. , in Jan. 2016. 18

DAYS OF REMEMBRANCE For the United States Armed Services, these events are not a distant memory. Our modern military was forged in the fight against Nazi tyranny. To defeat Hitler we mobilized all of the strength that we could muster, and in that effort we witnessed many of our finest hours as a military and indeed, as a country. 19

DAYS OF REMEMBRANCE Today we carry forward the proud legacy of men and women of the United States Army who played a vital role in liberating the camps at Buchenwald, Dora-Mittelbau, Flossenbürg, Dachau, and Mauthausen. American forces not only brought freedom to the survivors of Nazi horrors, they also made sure that in its aftermath the world would know what had happened. 20

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, atrocities “beyond the American mind to comprehend. ” 21

DAYS OF REMEMBRANCE Eisenhower ordered every American soldier in the area who was not on the front lines to tour these camps, so that they could themselves see what they were fighting against, and why they were fighting. These soldiers became not only liberators, but witnesses to one of the greatest massacres in history. 22

DAYS OF REMEMBRANCE The commitment of our forces to the survivors of Nazi atrocities did not end with liberation. In the aftermath of war, we cared for survivors and we helped reunite families. We provided both physical and spiritual nourishment to the survivors of the Holocaust. 23

DAYS OF REMEMBRANCE Days of Remembrance raises awareness that democratic institutions and values are not simply sustained, but need to be appreciated, nurtured, and protected. It also clearly illustrates the roots and ramifications of prejudice, racism, and stereotyping in any society. 24

DAYS OF REMEMBRANCE More importantly, silence and indifference to the suffering of others, or to the infringement of civil rights in any society, can—however unintentionally —perpetuate these problems. 25

“Let us not forget, after all, there is always a moment when moral choice is made…. And so we must know these good people who helped Jews during the Holocaust. We must learn from them, and in gratitude and hope, we must remember them. ” —Elie Wiesel Survivor of the Auschwitz, Buna, Buchenwald, and Gleiwitz concentration camps 26

SOURCES http: //www. ushmm. org/ http: //virtualjerusalem. com/ https: //www. warhistoryonline. com/wararticles/veteran-honored-saving-jewish-pow. html http: //www. yadvashem. org/yv/en/righteous/index. a sp 27

Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute, Patrick Air Force Base, Florida May 2016 Dawn W. Smith DEOMI Research Directorate All photographs are public domain and are from various sources, as cited. The findings in this report are not to be construed as an official DEOMI, U. S. military services, or Department of Defense position, unless designated by other authorized documents. 28

DAYS OF REMEMBRANCE This presentation commemorates the actions of Master Sergeant Roddie Edmonds. An ordinary American soldier with an extraordinary sense of duty, responsibility, and dedication to his fellow human beings, Edmonds made the choice to risk his own life to intervene and protect more than 200 Jewish American soldiers. 29