Hat Tip to Jeffrey Imm of United States Action for reminding what today is.
Being educated in government schools, i.e. public schools, I did not learn much about the Holocaust at school, only that Nazis were very bad people who killed a lot of people in their attempt to bring about a European Union under the aegis of German National Socialism.
I was, however, a very voracious reader, and learned of the horrors that had taken place in Europe during the period of the 20's, 30's and 40's. I wept as I read of the people being led off to slaughter like cattle while the world watched, with very few possessing the quiet courage necessary to do something.
I wished for a Time Machine to go back, and save the world this abomination, but the fact that it had not been stopped was proof enough to me that time travel was impossible, or limited to mere voyeurism.
I also knew that the Spirit of the Nazi was Alive and Well, because of the continued persecution of the Jewish people in Israel and around the world. One of the ways I always judge a person's worth as a human is their position on Israel. If they hated Israel, I could not have them as friend. The same applies to religions and nations as well. My duty as a human is to oppose, and actively work against, those who are against Israel in any way.
I say, "Never Again!" with the full knowledge that it will happen again, on a far greater scale than Hitler achieved because it is foretold in the Bible. If I am still alive, I will do everything in my power to help Israel and the Jewish people. I also know that there is One that will come, and make rivers of blood flow from the enemies of Israel.
Taken from the Imms email and the Holocaust website: [Links below this section]
Holocaust Remembrance Day, or Yom Hashoah, is celebrated on April 15th this year.
Once again this year, around the world efforts are made to fight against ignorance with education and against disbelief with proof, so that we NEVER FORGET on this Yom Hashoah, tha those that suffered, those that fought, and those that died. And to NEVER FORGET that 6 million Jews were murdered.
The US Holocaust Memorial Museum has set aside April 15 - April 22, 2007 as Days of Remembrance. This year's focus is on "Children in Crisis: Voices from the Holocaust".
From the US Holocaust Memorial Museum this year:
"When World War II ended in 1945, six million European Jews were dead, including more than one million Jewish children. All Jews were targeted for death, but children were among the most vulnerable victims of the Nazi regime and its collaborators. The very young, like the very old, were often the first victims in the ghettos of German-occupied eastern Europe. Many children died from lack of food, clothing, and shelter, as well as from diseases that flourished in the unsanitary and overcrowded conditions imposed in the ghettos."
"As part of the "Final Solution," the Nazis targeted children for death as so-called "useless eaters," incapable of exploitation as forced laborers. In some cases, adults sacrificed their lives to give comfort to children as long as possible. Janusz Korczak, director of an orphanage in the Warsaw ghetto, courageously refused to abandon children chosen for deportation. He accompanied them on the transport to the Treblinka killing center where he was killed along with nearly 200 children in his charge."
"Children were frequently among the first to be murdered when the Germans and their collaborators sought to destroy a Jewish community. Upon arrival at Auschwitz and other killing centers, most children were sent straight to their deaths in the gas chambers. Jewish children also perished attempting to evade or resist the Germans and their allies. Paula Wajcman was murdered at age fourteen when her hiding place was discovered during the destruction of the Kielce ghetto in Poland. Seven-year-old Franco Cesana was killed while fighting as a partisan in Northern Italy in 1943. In 1942, twelve-year- old Shulamit Perlmutter fled the destruction of the ghetto in Horochow, Poland. She spent the next eighteen months hiding alone in the nearby forests until she was discovered near death by Soviet troops."
"Only a small fraction of European Jewish children survived the Holocaust, many because they were hidden. With identities disguised, and often physically concealed from the outside world, these young people faced constant fear and danger. Theirs was a life in shadows, where a careless remark, the murmurings of inquisitive neighbors, or a denunciation could lead to discovery and death. Most of these 'hidden' children survived the Holocaust because they were protected by people and institutions of other faiths. In France, almost the entire Protestant Huguenot population in the village of Le Chambon-sur- Lignon hid Jewish children. Some children, like Augusta Feldhorn in Belgium, quickly learned to master Christian prayers and rituals in order to keep their Jewish identity concealed from even their closest friends. Other non-Jews provided hiding places for both Jewish children and their family members. Seven-year-old Gavra Mandil and his five-year-old sister Irena, as well as their parents, were saved by their Muslim neighbors in Albania."
"During the Holocaust, Jewish children channeled their suffering into creative expression. Some wrote letters and drew pictures about life under extreme circumstances, while others like teenagers Dawid Sierakowiak and Anne Frank kept diaries of their experiences. Neither of these diarists lived to see the end of the war. Their voices are evidence of their lives and tragically premature deaths, of hope and of cruelty. And their drawings and words are evidence that testifies to what they experienced. "
"Liberation from Nazi tyranny brought no end to the suffering of the girls and boys who remained alive. Many had no homes to which they could return; no place where they felt truly safe. Thousands would face the future with no parents, grandparents, or siblings."
Show the world that you have NOT FORGOTTEN - wear something to show that these Days of Remembrance - will be part of something that you will publicly stand up defend. US Holocaust Memorial Museum has stickers that you can download and share at this location.
Direct Download of pdf. (It is recommended that you print the stickers out on Avery 5294 or equivalent 2-1/2" round labels)
Let us also not forget that the threat to children and to the Jewish people has not yet ended. Today, in parts of the United Kingdom, many teachers in schools are afraid to teach the lessons of the Holocaust. Today, in the United Kingdom, Australia, France, Canada, antisemitic hate crimes have increased dramatically. Today, in Israel and around the world, Jewish people are still threatened by those who seek to continue to kill Jews, as Hamas' recent Arabic broadcast calls for the destruction of Israel, as does Iran and other nations of hate.
Also let us never forget that the adherents of Nazism still remain among us, that the Holocaust-deniers still have an active and loud voice in the world, and that the enemies of civilization still seek to convince the world that the terrible crimes against humanity never happened.
Moreover, let us not forget the mosaic of the others who suffered under Hitler's mad regime in the Holocaust - the Gypsies, the Handicapped, and any who did not fit Hitler's insane view of his "master race".
Places to visit:
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Classification System in Concentration Camps
Yom Hashoah History at About.com
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