Photo By Spc. Ryan Stroud | Maj. Robert Cain, executive officer for the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry...... read more read more
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By Spc. Ryan Stroud
3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division Public Affairs
BAQOUBA, Iraq -- Soldiers from the 3rd "Grey Wolf" Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, stationed at Forward Operating Base Warhorse in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, gathered in the Faulkenberg Theater for the Days of Remembrance Observance, April 29.
Soldiers listened as Chaplain (Capt.) Jesus Perez and Maj. Robert "Bubba" Cain spoke about the remembrance of the Holocaust in a presentation called "Children in Crisis: Voices from the Holocaust."
Perez said it was important to speak to others about the Holocaust to help remind Grey Wolf Soldiers to never forget about such a tragic event so it is never repeated again.
"It's been over 60 years since the Holocaust," said Perez, Chaplain for the 3rd Brigade Special Troops Battalion.
"To survivors, the Holocaust remains real and ever present, but for some others, 60 years makes the Holocaust seem part of ancient history," he continued.
"Year round we try to teach and inform others about the horrors of the Holocaust," he said. "We confront the question of what happened, how did it happen, how could happen and could it happen again? We attempt to fight against ignorance with education ... so it will never happen again"
Perez said though Holocaust remembrance is only one day of the year, it is an important part of history about the enduring struggle of the Jewish community that Soldiers need to remember.
"There is one day in the year when we make a special effort to remember," he said. "Upon this one day, we remember those who suffered, those who fought and those who died.
"Six million Jews were murdered. Many families were completely decimated," Perez said.
"Why I cannot forget ... why we should [talk about] an event that seems so far behind us? Why to remember and not move forward?" he continued, "because the number of people killed by (Adolf) Hitler and his Nazi party, in what he called, 'The final solution to the Jewish problem,' is unfathomable and full statistics for the tragic fate of these children will never be known.
"Estimates range as high as 1.5 million murdered children during the Holocaust," Perez added. "Plucked from their homes and stripped from their childhoods, the children have witnessed the murders of their parents, sibling and relatives. They faced starvation, illness and brutal labor until they were [lead] to the gas chambers.
"Nazi's established over 800 ghettos throughout Eastern Europe to isolate and control Jewish population," he said, continuing his lesson. "Many children and babies died in the ghettos due to lack of food, clothing and shelter, as well as the unsanitary and over crowded condition that spread disease.
"The Nazis considered most children in the ghettos useless for productive activity," said Perez. "They weren't generally used for [extreme] labor, thereby increasing their chance of [being taken] to a concentration camp and extermination camps, where they were usually killed."
Perez stopped his lesson for a moment as a small hint of tears welled up in his eyes while he described tragic event which happened to Jewish children in the camps.
"Jewish children were frequently among the first victims when (Nazis) sought to destroy the Jewish communities," Perez said. "Upon arrival to concentration or extermination camps, the majority of children were sent straight to the gas chambers. Other children, such as twins, were used by Nazis for scientific medical experiments, and suffered permanent physical damages."
A small bit of hope entered his voice as Perez spoke of a small number of children who fought to live through the tortures of the ghettos and camps.
"Some Jewish children discovered ways to survive; many smuggled food into the ghettos," Perez continued. "A number of children even participated in escapes to join patrician survivors. But only a small number of Jewish children survived the Holocaust era."
"Why I cannot forget ... because in memory, we do move forward," he said. "In remembering, we see what still needs to be done to avoid another Holocaust. By remembering we keep alive the memories of those who lost their lives because of hate and envy. Please, do not forget."
Cain, the executive officer of 3rd BCT, focused his speech to the Soldiers on remembering the Holocaust and using it in everyday life in Iraq.
"When the unspeakable truth of the Holocaust became known at the end of the war, all too many of us (Americans at home) claimed that they had not known anything about it or even suspected anything was happening," he said.
"The endless cries of the Holocaust survivors are always remembered," he continued. "We hear that cry in the current voices here on the streets in Diyala, (Iraq). We honor that, we are not bystanders.
"We accepted responsibility [to help others] when we took the oath, (joining the Army and) we stand by the statue of liberty," Cain said.
"We (must) remember," he said. "We stand here to make a difference, from the American GI who liberated the camps to the American medic who today treats an Iraqi child as if though it was his own."
Cain asked one last thing from the crowd of listening Soldiers, to not forget the Holocaust so they wont make the same mistakes in Iraq that were made years ago.
"What would happen (to Iraq) if we were to (pick-up and leave) today?" he asked. "Too many yesterdays have seen children maimed, murdered and hurt. (While) we're here, we will not forget, we will not fail to forget."
| Date Taken: | 05.07.2007 |
| Date Posted: | 05.07.2007 11:50 |
| Story ID: | 10257 |
| Location: | BAQUBAH, IQ |
| Web Views: | 84 |
| Downloads: | 51 |
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