Holloman remembers Holocaust

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Anthony M. Ward
  • 49th Wing Public Affairs
Between 1933 and 1945, Nazi Germany and other Axis Powers executed the state-sponsored systematic persecution and annihilation of European Jewish people. They were responsible for more than 11 million deaths, more than six million of whom were Jewish.

This tragedy is known as the Holocaust.

In honor of Holocaust victims, members of Team Holloman gathered at the Community Activity Center April 19 to observe the nation's annual "Days of Remembrance," which tells the story of those victims.

"This year's theme is 'Choosing to act: stories of rescue,'" said Master Sgt. Jennifer Willis, event narrator. "Confronted with persecution and the murder of Europe's Jews, witnesses had a choice whether or not to intervene. Getting involved meant running the risk of severe punishment and most people opted to do nothing."

The event included a speech by Dr. Nancy Nemeth-Jesurun, a University of Texas at El Paso graduate of Border History studies, followed by a naming and candle lighting ceremony in honor of select Holocaust victims.

"The title of the dissertation is 'The Third Life: 16 Holocaust Survivors in El Paso,'" said Nemeth-Jesurun. They told me their stories, but what I really focused on was the adjustment to this multi-cultural, bilingual environment in El Paso, because it was very a different experience from most survivors who immigrated to America during the war."

The majority of survivors from each country would travel to same locations so they were able to continue speaking their birth language and then adjust to American culture and speak English, she said. It was emergent for them in El Paso where the main languages were English and Spanish.

Proceeding Nemeth-Jesurun's speech, a name reading and candle lighting ceremony was performed in remembrance to those 16 Holocaust survivors of El Paso.

"History has always been about people," said Nemeth-Jesurun. "The Holocaust isn't just about the numbers. It's people that this happened to. History can teach us so many things. I hope it teaches us that when these tragic things happen, not to stand still and do nothing."

For more information about the Holocaust or Days of Remembrance, visit the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum website at www.ushmm.org.