Airmen reflect on Holocaust; pay tribute to victims

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Devin Doskey
  • 374 Airlift Wing Public Affairs
YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan --  In honor of the national Days of Remembrance, 50 Yokota residents took part in a tribute luncheon at the Enlisted Club here April 7.

The 2010 Holocaust Days of Remembrance Luncheon highlighted the strength and perseverance of the survivors while paying respects to the approximately six million people who were killed during the Holocaust. It also honored the bravery of U.S. soldiers who helped defeat Nazi Germany while liberating Holocaust survivors.

"It's important to remember all the victims of World War II," said 2010 Holocaust Remembrance Committee chairman, Master Sgt. Jeremiah Sutton. "Events like this give us an opportunity to host a living memorial and pay respect to everyone who paid the ultimate price."

Congress established Days of Remembrance as our nation's annual commemoration of the victims of the Holocaust. The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum has designated "Stories of Freedom: What You Do Matters" as this year's theme.

In keeping with the theme, the Holocaust Days of Remembrance committee showed a video from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. In the film Jewish prisoners were reunited with U.S. Army soldiers who liberated them from a train near Magdeburg, Germany, on April 13, 1945. The production highlighted their first face-to-face meeting in more than sixty years.

"This event is very important, not only to Yokota but to the rest of the world. We must remember the victims of the atrocities that were committed," said Master Sgt. Shawn Conlan, master of ceremony for the luncheon. "As time goes on, their stories need to be told."

In addition, guest speaker Rabbi Menachem Mendel (Mendi) Sudakevich, who has dedicated the past ten years of his life to serving Japan's Jewish population, expressed the importance of using the unfortunate events of the past to improve the future.

"We must make sure we remember," said Rabbi Mendi. "By remembering, we can prevent even the small things that happen because of hate."