Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on June 7, 2024

(INDIANAPOLIS, IN) Scores of Alpha Epsilon Pi (AEPi) chapters walked through their college campuses and communities this spring to bring Holocaust awareness directly to students and their campus community. While antisemitism and anti-Israel rhetoric and actions run rampant on college campuses, the brothers of AEPi, the worlds largest and leading Jewish college fraternity, wanted to make sure they helped raise awareness about the holocaust through the fraternitys We Remember campaign.

The campaign is a series of events and walks organized by AEPi brothers through their college campuses to raise awareness of the Holocaust and the atrocities committed against mankind. The walkers are silent as they march through their campus and community, wearing only the words, Never Forget on signs attached to their shirts. On many campuses, the walks conclude with a short service by a local Rabbi and/or are conducted in conjunction with a reading of names of those murdered in the Holocaust. On some campuses, AEPi sponsored events with holocaust survivors speaking to the campus community. Participation in the events is completely voluntary and is open to the greater campus and community.

University of Tennessee AEPi Brothers on campus in Knoxville, TN

A march to remember the victims of the holocaust at Lehigh University

AEPi Brothers at the University of California Irvine lead a holocaust remembrance walk on campus.

Tallahassee, Florida AEPi chapter organizes campus rally to commemorate Yom Hashoah

A Walk to Remember organized by AEPi Brothers in Rochester, NY

These are complicated and dangerous times on college campuses. The level of antisemitic rhetoric and actions that Jewish students are facing is virtually unprecedented. We are immensely proud of our chapters who have stood strong in the face of this hate and worked to peacefully remind their campus communities about the atrocities of the Holocaust, said AEPis Chief Executive Officer, Rob Derdiger. Our Brothers march with signs saying, Never Again and Never Forget. That message has never been more important or needed than it is today. Our Brothers are living AEPis mission to develop the future leaders of the Jewish community.

# # #

About Alpha Epsilon Pi

Alpha Epsilon Pi is the worlds largest and leading Jewish college fraternity, operating chapters on more than 150 college campuses in the United States, Canada, the U.K., and Israel. Founded in 1913, AEPi has more than 110,000 living alumni. The fraternitys mission developing the future leaders of the Jewish communities is demonstrated every day through acts of brotherhood, Tzedakah (charity), social awareness and support for Jewish communities and Israel.

Visit link:

DESPITE HISTORIC CAMPUS ANTISEMITISM, AEPi BROTHERS RAISE AWARENESS OF THE HOLOCAUST - AEPi

Category: Holocaust | Comments Off on DESPITE HISTORIC CAMPUS ANTISEMITISM, AEPi BROTHERS RAISE AWARENESS OF THE HOLOCAUST – AEPi
Tags:

Posted By admin on June 7, 2024

The German government has agreed to allocate $1.5 billion in Holocaust reparations this year, setting a new record for how much the country is spending to support survivors.

The increase from a total of $1.4 billion last year is due to a rise in the amount the government is paying to reimburse survivors medical expenses. But the sum paid directly to survivors has once again declined, reflecting the accelerating deaths of survivors.

And the growth in the total package is expected to end soon as the number of living survivors plummets, according to the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, known as the Claims Conference, the group that negotiates reparations with the German government.

Earlier this year, the group said it had conducted a thorough review of remaining survivors, including those who have not received reparations through its efforts, and found that about 245,000 were alive, with the median age being 85.

We have negotiated a huge increase because survivors need more help. More survivors are coming forward and they are getting older and more disabled, Gregg Schneider, the Claims Conferences executive vice president, wrote in an email. However, sadly, we project these needs plateauing as the cruelty of mortality rates cannot be stopped. By 2026, the needs will level off.

The $1.5 billion set aside this year is broken into three categories: $500 million in direct reparations, a decrease from last year; $972 million to support the care needs of an increasingly elderly cohort of survivors; and $40 million for Holocaust education.

The Claims Conference negotiated support for Holocaust education for the first time in 2022. That figure has quadrupled and the organization now says it has negotiated further increases in the amount allocated for Holocaust education through 2028. It expects that number to grow as other reparations spending falls.

We recognize that the day when all of our firsthand witnesses are no longer with us is closing in, Schneider said. This gives more urgency to our work, not just negotiations, but Holocaust education and social campaigns that capture the testimony of survivors in a format that reaches younger generations more thoroughly.

Efforts to overhaul Holocaust education, which has historically centered on first-person testimonies by survivors, are taking a range of new forms, including, increasingly, through virtual reality and AI-generated content.

Link:

German Holocaust reparations increase again this year, but plateau expected as survivors perish - JTA News - Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Category: Holocaust | Comments Off on German Holocaust reparations increase again this year, but plateau expected as survivors perish – JTA News – Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Tags:

Posted By admin on June 7, 2024

The Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany (Claims Conference) will increase funding to Holocaust survivors by $114 million following negotiations with the German Federal Ministry, the organization announced on Wednesday. The increased budget - amounting to a total of $972.5 million over the next two years - will allow for improved social welfare services.

The Claims Conference is a nonprofit organization that works to secure material compensation for Holocaust survivors and to return Jewish property stolen during the Holocaust. The Claims Conference has successfully acquired $90 billion in indemnification to victims of Nazi persecution from the German government since 1952 due to continuous negotiations. This is disseminated to 200,000 survivors.

The Executive Vice President of the Claims Conference, Greg Schneider, spoke of the need for increased welfare provisions given the advanced age of most Holocaust survivors.

We must ensure they are able to live their final years in dignity, he said.

Claims Conference partners with 300 social welfare services across 83 countries, including Uruguay, Brazil, Argentina, Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Poland, Romania, and many more. The help given to Holocaust survivors varies but may involve home care, food packages, transportation to medical appointments and social events.

Ambassador Stuart Eizenstat, Special Negotiator for the Claims Conference Negotiations Delegation, thanked the German government for working with them to fortify our collective commitment to survivors while also helping to ensure that the atrocities of the past are remembered and not repeated.

The amount designated for Holocaust education will also increase by $55 million, to a projected total of $177 million over the next four years, said Claims Conference. They claim that a recent global survey showed that knowledge of the Holocaust is decreasing, but there is a strong desire for Holocaust education in schools around the world. These surveys include respondents in the United States, Canada, Austria, France, the UK and The Netherlands.

Schneider spoke of the vital role of education in the current climate: In this time of growing Holocaust denial and distortion, it is critical that we secure a robust foundation for Holocaust education to ensure current and future generations alike have access and opportunities to truly understand the lessons of the Holocaust.

A May article in the Economist reported that 20% of respondents between 18-29 in a US poll think the Holocaust is a myth, compared with 8% of those aged 30-44.

The commitment to this final generation of Holocaust survivors is steadfast and unfaltering, said Gideon Taylor, President of the Claims Conference, our sense of responsibility is unwavering.

Part of that responsibility means ensuring that "the past is remembered and not repeated," said Schneider.

Continued here:

Germany increases Holocaust reparations for survivors - The Jerusalem Post

Category: Holocaust | Comments Off on Germany increases Holocaust reparations for survivors – The Jerusalem Post
Tags:

Posted By admin on June 7, 2024

TULSA, Okla. The SB1671 Oklahoma Holocaust Legislation Coalition held an event at the Tulsa City County Library on Wednesday to reveal a new Augmented Reality (AR) technology that has been created for Holocaust studies in Oklahoma public school classrooms.

SB1671 Coalition, in partnership with Solaos, Inc., developed an educational app to provide students an interactive learning experience while sitting at their desks or walking around their classrooms.

Solaos, Inc. is a Tulsa IT consulting company known for creating AR modules for the Greenwood Rising Museum in Tulsa and also working on national programs.

A 91-year-old Oklahoman, who was a survivor of the Holocaust, is part of the project to improve the way history is taught to students.

Holocaust survivor Eva K. Unterman said she's grateful to be a part of this project that tells her story and the stories of millions.

"It's very important and I am most grateful for it and to be still around. I am 91 years old, so I'm the only holocaust survivor, I'm being told, in Oklahoma, which is quite an obligation," Unterman said.

The project is the result of Senate Bill 1671 from 2022.

Students will hear stories from Unterman and many other Holocaust survivors. They will also get to see and hear what it was like for people to be shipped on trains to concentration camps.

Unterman said this is important and wants it to turn into something more.

"All I know is my personal experience. Anytime anyone wants to hear it, as long as I can speak, I'll talk to them. Whether it's one person or a room full of people. Our history must be remembered just as others, especially in Oklahoma. Indian history, Black history, we have to remember that," Unterman said.

Kujana Jackson with Solaos, Inc. helped build the technology for it. He said this could create a domino effect.

"Using immersive technologies to help educate students is kind of the pathway forward for the future. Our students are used to being on cell phones, they're used to being on tablets, used to being connected in a very intimate way with technology. The only place they don't get to do that often is in school. I think as we start making technology more immersive, we start telling the history of using these things, I think that you will see a trend across education systems," Jackson said.

It will start as an app and soon it will include further features such as virtual reality headsets and interactive photography.

The interactive app will be available to use in classrooms next fall.

Those who attended the reveal party were the first to see the AR-Stitch program.

In one module, students will see a World War II soldiers photo come alive and talk directly to them about his war experiences.

"Perhaps the first of its kind created for Holocaust studies in public school classrooms," the announcement said.

The Mission of the SB1671 Coalition is to promote Holocaust studies in Oklahoma public schools, grades 6-12.

These teacher conferences are sponsored by theSB1671Coalition. They are taking place in Tulsa, Norman, Enid and Lawton during the month of June.

It's been agreed to by historians that 6 million Jews were killed during the Holocaust.

In January, the New York-based Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, also referred to as the Claims Conference, released a report estimating there are 245,000 Holocaust survivors in 90 different countries.

Read more here:

SB1671 Coalition unveils new tech created for Holocaust studies in Oklahoma schools - KOKI FOX 23 TULSA

Category: Holocaust | Comments Off on SB1671 Coalition unveils new tech created for Holocaust studies in Oklahoma schools – KOKI FOX 23 TULSA
Tags:

Posted By admin on June 7, 2024

The Islamic Republic of Iran is planning a Holocaust for us in the next two years, hawkish opposition MK Avigdor Liberman tells Army Radio, arguing that Tehran plans to repeat its recent April 13 missile attack, only on a march larger scale, in the future.

We are in the midst of an Iranian extermination program, the Yisrael Beytenu party chairman says, arguing that if Iran is allowed to create a nuclear umbrella, it will use the deterrence it has obtained to launch a devastating strike.

Israel will be attacked with the aim of destroying it from several fronts with tens of thousands of missiles at the same time. They are planning a holocaust for us in the next two years, he says.

This April, Iran launched around 300 missiles and drones at the Jewish state, almost all of which were downed by Israel and its allies. Following the strike, Liberman said that Israel had no alternative but to hit back at Iran and must seek maximal coordination with the US in doing so.

Liberman has been a harsh critic of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus handling of the war in Gaza and the north, stating in January that Israels military must close off a swath of southern Lebanon and push the Hezbollah terror group north of the Litani River, even if it means 50 years of occupation.

We will not annex anything, and we will not build settlements, but we will release the territory only when there is a government in Beirut that knows how to exercise its sovereignty, he said at the time.

You're a dedicated reader

Were really pleased that youve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.

Thats why we started the Times of Israel eleven years ago - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.

So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we havent put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.

For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.

Thank you, David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel

Read more here:

Liberman says Iran 'planning a Holocaust for us in the next two years' - The Times of Israel

Category: Holocaust | Comments Off on Liberman says Iran ‘planning a Holocaust for us in the next two years’ – The Times of Israel
Tags:

Posted By admin on June 7, 2024

(June 5, 2024 / Aplha Epsilon Pi)

Scores of Alpha Epsilon Pi (AEPi) chapters walked through their college campuses and communities this spring to bring Holocaust awareness directly to students and their campus community. While antisemitism and anti-Israel rhetoric and actions run rampant on college campuses, the brothers of AEPi, the worlds largest and leading Jewish college fraternity, wanted to make sure they helped raise awareness about the Holocaust through the fraternitys We Remember campaign.

The campaign is a series of events and walks organized by AEPi brothers through their college campuses to raise awareness of the Holocaust and the atrocities committed against humankind.

The walkers are silent as they march through their campus and community, wearing only the words, Never Forget on signs attached to their shirts. On many campuses, the walks conclude with a short service by a local rabbi and/or are conducted in conjunction with a reading of names of those murdered in the Holocaust. On some campuses, AEPi helped sponsor events featuring Holocaust survivors speaking to the campus community. Participation in the events is voluntary and open to the greater campus and community.

These are complicated and dangerous times on college campuses. The level of antisemitic rhetoric and actions that Jewish students are facing is virtually unprecedented, said Rob Derdiger, AEPis chief executive officer. We are immensely proud of our chapters who have stood strong in the face of this hate and worked to peacefully remind their campus communities about the atrocities of the Holocaust.

He continued: Our Brothers march with signs saying, Never Again and Never Forget. That message has never been more important or needed than it is today. Our Brothers are living AEPis mission to develop the future leaders of the Jewish community.

You have read 3 articles this month.

Register to receive full access to JNS.

About & contact The Publisher

Alpha Epsilon Pi is the worlds leading Jewish college fraternity, operating chapters on more than 150 college campuses in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Israel. Founded in 1913, AEPi has more than 110,000 living alumni. The fraternitys missiondeveloping the future leaders of the Jewish communitiesis demonstrated every day through acts of brotherhood, tzedakah (charity), social awareness, and support for Jewish communities and Israel.

Releases published on the JNS Wire are communicated and paid for by third parties. Jewish News Syndicate, and any of its distribution partners, take zero responsibility for the accuracy of any content published in any press release. All the statements, opinions, figures in text or multimedia including photos or videos included in each release are presented solely by the sponsoring organization, and in no way reflect the views or recommendation of Jewish News Syndicate or any of its partners. If you believe any of the content in a release published on JNS Wire is offensive or abusive, please report a release.

Go here to read the rest:

In backdrop of campus antisemitism, AEPi raises Holocaust awareness - JNS.org - JNS.org

Category: Holocaust | Comments Off on In backdrop of campus antisemitism, AEPi raises Holocaust awareness – JNS.org – JNS.org
Tags:

Posted By admin on June 7, 2024

American rapper Macklemore claimed during a concert in Germany on Saturday that the only way to atone for the atrocities of the Holocaust is to free Palestine.

The atrocity that was the Holocaust, there will never be reparations for that, the Seattle-based rapper, whose real name is Benjamin Hammond Haggerty, told the audience at the Sparkassenpark stadium in Monchengladbach, a city in North Rhine-Westphalia. The only way that we can atone for our past is by today standing up against apartheid, against occupation, for free Palestine. Thats the only way.

I want the same thing for everybody, he added. I want everyone to feel safe, to feel loved, to feel like they can wake up and have a shot at the day, to have breath in their lungs and to not be scared.

Following his remarks, Macklemore performed his newest single Hinds Hall, an anti-Israel anthem in which he expresses support for free Palestine and the anti-Israel protests taking place at university campuses across the US. In the song, Macklemore also claims that the deadly Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel were an act of resistance. The songs title is a reference to Columbia Universitys Hamilton Hall, the building that anti-Israel student protesters broke into and occupied in April.

Macklemore is currently on a world tour and has recently performed on stage wearing a jacket that had a patch featuring the Palestinian flag and another patch that read Free Palestine. He also performed while wearing around his neck a keffiyeh, a headscarf traditionally worn by Palestinians that has become a symbol of solidarity with the Palestinian cause and opposition to Israel. While performing last week in Paris, he told the audience, The Palestinian fight and resistance has been continuously what has given me energy, what has uplifted my spirit, what has reminded me that we must keep going in this fight for liberation for all human beings.

In 2014, Macklemore performed on stage in Seattle while wearing a fake wig and beard, and an oversized prosthetic nose. The costume was labeled as deeply offensive and propagates Jewish stereotypes, but Macklemore claimed that it was not intended to be a reference to the Jewish community. He explained in a X/Twitter post at the time: A fake witches nose, wig and beard = random costume. Not my idea of a stereotype of anybody.

Read more:

Macklemore References Holocaust to Justify Anti-Israel Comments During Germany Concert - Algemeiner

Category: Holocaust | Comments Off on Macklemore References Holocaust to Justify Anti-Israel Comments During Germany Concert – Algemeiner
Tags:

Posted By admin on June 7, 2024

An American Jewish military intelligence officer has resigned to protest U.S. support for Israel in its war against Hamas in Gaza, saying that what is happening to the Palestinians there reminds him of the Holocaust.

Major Harrison Mann submitted his resignation to the military and the Defense Intelligence Agency in November. He announced it publicly last month in a letter that gained renewed attention this week, when he officially exited the military.

As the descendant of European Jews, I was raised in a particularly unforgiving moral environment when it came to the topic of bearing responsibility for ethnic cleansing my grandfather refused to ever purchase products manufactured in Germany where the paramount importance of never again and the inadequacy of just following orders were oft repeated, Mann wrote in the letter.

I am haunted by the knowledge that I failed those principles, he added. But I also have hope that my grandfather would afford me some grace, that he would still be proud of me for stepping away from this war, however belatedly.

Mann told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that he was not saying the war in Gaza is the same as the Holocaust.

I think theres no benefit in weighing tragedies against each other and its not what Im trying to do, he said in an interview Wednesday. Obviously the Holocaust was much bigger but that doesnt mean that smaller massacres of innocent people [also] shouldnt happen.

But Mann also said his thinking about whether and how to oppose the war was inspired in part by his experience visiting Yad Vashem, Israels Holocaust memorial, while participating in an IDF training for U.S. intelligence officers in 2019. He recalled seeing the iconic photograph of Jewish U.S. soldiers leading a prayer service for liberated prisoners at Buchenwald.

Rabbi Hershel Schachter leads a Shavuot prayer service in the cinema barrack for survivors of the Buchenwald Concentration Camp, May 18, 1945. (Charles W. Herr, Jr., U.S. Signal Corps via National Archives)

That was the most proud I ever felt to be in the Army that I got to wear the same uniform and be in the same army as those men, he recalled. Its hard not to think back to that when we are seeing again photos of starved, emaciated children and burned corpses.

He added, I am now contributing to that instead of being the ones who liberated them.

Manns exit adds him to a small number of government officials who have resigned to protest U.S. support for Israel and its military campaign in Gaza. Lily Greenberg Call, a special assistant to the chief of staff of the Department of Interior, became the first Jewish staffer to resign publicly over the Biden administrations support for the war last month; she said at the time, There are so many of us who feel this way.

Mann said he had grown alarmed at U.S. support for Israel on Oct. 7, the day that Hamas invaded Israel, killing approximately 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting some 250.

At the same time that we were able to witness and understand the casualties and suffering and crimes inflicted on Israelis during that attack, I think everybody who follows the region had this dread that there was going to be a very violent and disproportionate response back onto Gaza, like there frequently has been in response to smaller attacks, he said.

Mann added, Seeing from day one that there were going to be an incredible amount of civilian casualties, and seeing that everyone on the American side was well aware of that, was very demoralizing.

Manns resignation came 13 years into his military career, which he began after graduating from the College of William and Mary in 2011. He said there were previous moments in his career as a Middle East specialist where he had reservations about policies or partners he was required to support. But he said this time, with more experience under his belt and more insight about operations within the intelligence apparatus, he felt he had little choice but to resign in protest.

Mann said he had not been in touch before his resignation with groups working to stoke dissent against the war and aid people who oppose it within the Biden administration. But he said he was now hearing from others inside the administration who have sought his advice about how to navigate their own opposition to Israels military campaign.

He said he knew of people who had asked to be given new responsibilities, who were refusing to continue conducting work on the Israel-related portions of their portfolios and who were demanding assurances that the work they were doing is consistent with U.S. and international law.

To resign is not a feasible option for a lot of people, he said.

Harrison Mann celebrated his bar mitzvah in his 20s while stationed with the U.S. Army at Camp Buehring in Kuwait in 2015. (Courtesy Mann)

Mann told CBS News on Tuesday in his first public interview that he believed Israels actions in Gaza represented some measure of ethnic cleansing and that he had decided to make his letter public after the Biden administration expressed reservations about Israels war conduct but went ahead with supplying weapons nonetheless.

He also told CBS that the Israeli army had almost certainly used American weapons against civilians in Gaza, which would violate the terms of their use. Asked whether the Israeli army had done so intentionally, Mann said, I dont know how you kill 35,000 civilians by accident.

Gaza officials say more than 36,000 people have died in Israels campaign but do not differentiate between civilians and combatants. Israeli officials, who say their military takes measures to minimize civilian casualties, believe that more than a third of the deaths have been combatants. No independent data exists.

Mann told JTA that he did not think the precise tally of civilian deaths was important in forming his perspective on the war. If it turns out I got it totally wrong and only half of that is civilians, I wouldnt consider that an acceptable outcome either, he said.

Mann said that in addition to his grandparents who fled Eastern Europe for North America, he has a grandmother who was born in Palestine, before Israels establishment, after her family left Hungary. He lived briefly in Jerusalem while studying Hebrew as a college student (he also studied Arabic in the West Bank and Lebanon) and as an adult said he had grown more engaged in his Jewish identity celebrating his bar mitzvah while stationed in Kuwait. He also said he had seen pro-Israel sentiment shift within his own family over the course of the war, especially as he shared his own thoughts about how unconditional U.S. aid has given Israel little incentive to show restraint in a volatile region.

I think its important for Jewish Americans to understand how U.S. support for Israel right now is making America and Israel immeasurably less safe, he said.

I do understand why Israel is incredibly meaningful to Jews who live outside of it, Mann added. Many of them had the same experience that my grandparents did. This was their refuge. But its not the 1940s or the 1840s anymore, and I think the biggest threat to Israel and the Jews now is Israels own behavior.

Read more from the original source:

Jewish officer resigns from US Army to protest Gaza war, citing lessons of the Holocaust - JTA News - Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Category: Holocaust | Comments Off on Jewish officer resigns from US Army to protest Gaza war, citing lessons of the Holocaust – JTA News – Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Tags:

Posted By admin on June 7, 2024

The Association of Jewish Refugees (AJR) gathered as part of National Volunteer Week to thank more than 250 supporters who give up their time to help Holocaust survivors and refugees across the UK tell their stories.

The AJRs My Story project recounts the histories of Jewish refugees and Holocaust survivors through the production of individual life story books to be kept as treasured memories and tools for reminiscence and to raise awareness about the Holocaust and Nazi oppression.

The AJR Volunteers department oversees the network of supporters who provide on the ground assistance from playing cards and games, going for walks, helping with their tablet or computer, to a weekly chat and cup of tea.

Get The Jewish News Daily Edition by email and never miss our top stories Free Sign Up

AJR My Story_Monique Blake_cover front

Michael Newman, chief executive officer, The AJR said:As we move from living to lived history, the AJR is dedicated to keeping the memory of the Holocaust alive, through our work as the largest dedicated funder of Holocaust education and by capturing and sharing the stories of this unique community with projects such as My Story. Our work helps preserve the record of the darkest period of Jewish history and share its lessons and its warnings, in the hope that it can never recur.

Manfred Goldberg_My Story_ cover

Fran Horwich, head of volunteer service, The AJR said:Here at The AJR our volunteer network reaches Holocaust refugees and survivors across every region of the UK. We are proud of our 80+ year history in supporting this unique community, a privilege made possible by the vital help of volunteers. So, today we pay tribute to their invaluable contribution hard work, dedication and passion.

Lisa Bayfield, AJR Volunteer, who worked with Hana Newman and Ivan Shaw on their My Story books said: Having the privilege to listen to Hana and Ivan tell their incredible stories was a profoundly moving experience. Hana and Ivans extraordinary courage and strength to retell the most traumatic events in significant detail was testament to two remarkable individuals. I know that their families appreciate having their stories recorded in the My Story book and I thank the AJR for allowing me to take part in an experience which will stay with me forever.

More here:

National Volunteer Week: Holocaust Survivors gather to thank vital helpers - Jewish News

Category: Holocaust | Comments Off on National Volunteer Week: Holocaust Survivors gather to thank vital helpers – Jewish News
Tags:

Posted By admin on June 7, 2024

DUNWOODY, Ga. Victory over Germany was in sight for the Allies on April 29, 1945, as the 42nd Infantry Division stormed toward Munich.

Pfc. Hilbert Margol and his twin brother Howard, now deceased, were part of an artillery convoy heading for the city on a two-lane road through the woods. As Margol remembers it, the convoy was stopped and the Howard brothers were permitted by their sergeant to investigate the source of a stench wafting over the area. After a short walk through the woods they spotted boxcars.

A human leg dangled from one of them.

So we looked and inside the box car were all deceased bodies, just packed inside the box car, said Margol, a 100-year-old World War II veteran living in Dunwoody, Georgia.

World War II veteran Hilbert Margol speaks March 14 in Atlanta. Margol, 100, and his twin brother, Howard Margol, were a part of the 42nd Infantry that arrived in Marseille, France, in January 1945.

The 42nd Infantry is among those credited with liberating the Nazi concentration camp at Dachau. The Margol brothers were among the first Americans to discover the lingering horrors at the camp, which was established in 1933 and became a symbol of Nazi atrocities. More than 200,000 people from across Europe were held there and over 40,000 prisoners died there in horrendous conditions.

Hilbert Margol remembers seeing stacks of dead bodies like cordwood once they went in the gates. We couldnt understand what what was going on. It was almost like a Hollywood movie set.

World War II veterans Andy Negra, left, and Hilbert Margol, speak to each other during an an event honoring the two March 14 in Atlanta.

Born Feb. 22, 1924, Jacksonville, Florida,Hilbert entered military life with Howard in 1942, joining an ROTC program at the University of Florida figuring that after Pearl Harbor they would wind up in the military at some point. They joined an Army Reserve unit later, after being told that might enable them to finish college, but they were called to active duty in 1943, Margol said. He served with Battery B, 392nd Field Artillery Battalion, 42nd Infantry Division.

They were separated for a while, in training for different missions. But Howard eventually was able to transfer to where his brother was serving with an artillery unit in Oklahoma. Eventually, they deployed to Europe in the aftermath of D-Day.

After seeing combat, death and destruction, Margol came home to find success in business.

One of the promises I made to myself in combat, that if I was fortunate enough to make it back home, I was going to buy every creature comfort that I could afford, Margol said.

But success and comfort werent the only things driving him. He has spoken at programs about the Holocaust, noting what was found at Dachau.

I hope and pray that everyone who hears my voice, and their offspring, outlive the offspring of the deniers that say the Holocaust never happened.

American assault forces hurdle over the side of a Coast Guard LCI into a landing barge, which will bring them into the fight to liberate France, during the Allied invasion of the Normandy, in June 1944. (AP Photo)

In this image provided by the U.S. Army Signal Corps, General Dwight Eisenhower gives the order of the day, "Full Victory - Nothing Else," to paratroopers somewhere in England just before they board their planes to participate in the first assault in the invasion of the continent of Europe, June 6, 1944. (AP Photo/U.S. Army Signal Corps Photo)

American paratroopers, heavily armed, sit inside a military plane as they soar over the English Channel en route to the Normandy French coast for the Allied D-Day invasion of the German stronghold during World War II, June 6, 1944. (AP Photo)

Ducks (amphibious trucks) and a half-track follow foot troops ashore during the World War II opening invasion of France on a 100-mile front along the Normandy coast by Allied forces on June 6, 1944. (AP Photo/U.S. Coast Guard)

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, left, reviews American troops at a base in England on the eve of D-Day, June 1944, during World War II. The initials AAAO on the steel helmets with a line across the As stands for "Anywhere, Anytime, Anyhow, Bar Nothing." The identification shoulder patches of the G.I.s are blotted out by the censor. (AP Photo)

British Commandoes assemble at a coastal port in England, June 4, 1944, in readiness for sailing to France for the liberation of Europe. (AP Photo/British Official Photo)

In this photo provided by the British Navy, wounded British troops from the South Lancashire and Middlesex regiments are being helped ashore at Sword Beach, June 6, 1944, during the D-Day invasion of German occupied France during World War II. (AP Photo/British Navy)

After landing at the shore, these British troops wait for the signal to move forward, during the initial Allied landing operations in Normandy, France, June 6, 1944. (AP Photo)

Supreme Commander Dwight Eisenhower gives the order of the day "Full victory - Nothing else" to paratroopers of the 101st Airborne Division at the Royal Air Force base in Greenham Common, England, three hours before the men board their planes to participate in the first assault wave of the invasion of the continent of Europe, June 5, 1944. (AP Photo)

Under the cover of naval shell fire, American infantrymen wade ashore from their landing craft during the initial Normandy landing operations in France, June 6, 1944. (AP Photo/Peter Carroll)

Sitting in the cover of their foxholes, American soldiers of the Allied Expeditionary Force secure a beachhead during initial landing operations at Normandy, France, June 6, 1944. In the background amphibious tanks and other equipment crowd the beach, while landing craft bring more troops and material ashore. (AP Photo/Weston Haynes)

U.S. Army medical personnel administer a plasma transfusion to a wounded comrade, who survived when his landing craft went down off the coast of Normandy, France, in the early days of the Allied landing operations in June 1944. (AP Photo)

A tribute to an unknown American soldier, who lost his life fighting in the landing operations of the Allied Forces, marks the sand of Normandy's shore, in June 1944. (AP Photo)

German prisoners of war, captured during the Allied Normandy invasion, are marched to the ships that bring them into captivity in England, in June 1944, at Bernieres-sur-mer, France. (AP Photo)

U.S. reinforcements wade through the surf as they land at Normandy in the days following the Allies' June 1944, D-Day invasion of occupied France. (AP Photo)

In this photo provided by the U.S. Coast Guard, a U.S. Coast Guard landing barge, tightly packed with helmeted soldiers, approaches the shore at Normandy, France, during initial Allied landing operations, June 6, 1944. These barges ride back and forth across the English Channel, bringing wave after wave of reinforcement troops to the Allied beachheads. (AP Photo)

A barrage balloon cruises overhead as a heavily loaded Rhino-Ferry undergoes a test trip before it is used in the landing operations at the Normandy coast of France, in June 1944. (AP Photo)

U.S. troops prepare to embark a landing craft, which will take them out to a larger ship lying off the coast, June 5, 1944, at a port in England. These soldiers are due to take part in the D-Day landings. (AP Photo/Peter J. Carroll)

Ducks (amphibious trucks) and a half-track follow foot troops ashore during the invasion of Normandy on a 100-mile front along the French coast by allied forces on June 6, 1944. This was a turning point for the Allies in World War II, known as D-Day. (AP Photo)

Get local news delivered to your inbox!

See original here:

He saw the horrors of Dachau. Now, this WWII veteran warns against Holocaust denial - Opelika Auburn News

Category: Holocaust | Comments Off on He saw the horrors of Dachau. Now, this WWII veteran warns against Holocaust denial – Opelika Auburn News
Tags: