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Obama to Honor Americans’ Wartime Efforts to Save Jews During Holocaust Saying ‘We Are All Jews,’ Obama Honors Americans’ Lifesaving Efforts in Holocaust
(about 3 hours later)
WASHINGTON — In a German prison camp 71 years ago, Master Sgt. Roddie Edmonds stared down the barrel of his Nazi captor’s pistol and refused to say which of his fellow prisoners of war were Jewish.WASHINGTON — In a German prison camp 71 years ago, Master Sgt. Roddie Edmonds stared down the barrel of his Nazi captor’s pistol and refused to say which of his fellow prisoners of war were Jewish.
“We are all Jews here,” said Sergeant Edmonds, the highest-ranking American noncommissioned officer at Ziegenhein stalag that day, instead ordering more than 1,000 of his fellow prisoners to stand together in front of their barracks. The Geneva Convention required soldiers to provide only their names, ranks and serial numbers, not their religions, Sergeant Edmonds said, warning the German that if he shot them all, he would be tried for war crimes.“We are all Jews here,” said Sergeant Edmonds, the highest-ranking American noncommissioned officer at Ziegenhein stalag that day, instead ordering more than 1,000 of his fellow prisoners to stand together in front of their barracks. The Geneva Convention required soldiers to provide only their names, ranks and serial numbers, not their religions, Sergeant Edmonds said, warning the German that if he shot them all, he would be tried for war crimes.
That act of defiance in January 1945 spared the lives of as many as 200 Jews, and, on Wednesday, Sergeant Edmonds will receive posthumous recognition by President Obama as the first American service member to be named Righteous Among the Nations, an honor bestowed on non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust. That act of defiance in January 1945 spared the lives of as many as 200 Jews, and, on Wednesday, President Obama echoed Sergeant Edmonds’s words of solidarity with the Jews as he recognized him posthumously as the first American service member to be named Righteous Among the Nations, an honor bestowed on non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust.
Mr. Obama will make an unusual appearance at the Israeli Embassy, which is all the more notable because only months ago he clashed openly with Israel over the Iran nuclear deal. He will mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day and the 71st anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp, holding up Sergeant Edmonds and others who showed heroism during World War II as symbols of the values Israel and the United States share. The event was the first time a sitting American president has spoken at the Israeli Embassy, and it was all the more notable because it came only months after Mr. Obama clashed openly with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel over the Iran nuclear deal. On Wednesday, there was little evidence of the rift.
Mr. Obama will be hosted by Ron Dermer, the Israeli ambassador to the United States who, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spent much of last year working to defeat the president’s highest foreign policy priority. It is the clearest sign to date that both governments are working to heal their relations. “We are all Jews, because anti-Semitism is a distillation, an expression of an evil that runs through so much of human history, and if we do not answer that, we do not answer any other form of evil,” Mr. Obama said. “America’s commitment to Israel’s security remains now and forever unshakable, and, I’ve said this before, it would be a fundamental moral failure if America broke that bond.”
Mr. Obama will be introduced by Steven Spielberg, the Oscar-winning director whose 1993 film “Schindler’s List” recounted the tale of Oskar Schindler, the German industrialist named as Righteous Among the Nations decades ago for saving more than 1,000 Jews who worked in his factories. Mr. Obama was welcomed warmly by Ron Dermer, the Israeli ambassador to the United States, who, with Mr. Netanyahu, spent much of last year working to defeat the president’s highest foreign policy priority. It was the clearest sign to date that both governments are working to heal their relations.
The stories of those Mr. Obama will recognize are no less cinematic, although until recently they have been virtually unknown, including to their families. “We know we have no better friend than the United States of America,” Mr. Netanyahu said in a video message. Addressing Mr. Obama, he added, “Your being here reflects the unbreakable bond of friendship between Israel and the United States.”
The subject of the Holocaust has been a freighted one throughout Mr. Obama’s presidency. Some Israelis and American Jews were angered by his speech to the Muslim world in Cairo in 2009, when he declared that the aspiration for a Jewish homeland was rooted in the “tragic history” of the Holocaust. Critics viewed the comment as an implicit rejection of the Zionist ideals and biblical underpinnings of Israel’s history.
On Wednesday, Mr. Obama reflected on the visit he made to the Buchenwald concentration camp after that speech. He was introduced as a president with “a Jewish soul” by Steven Spielberg, the Oscar-winning director of the 1993 film “Schindler’s List,” which recounted the tale of Oskar Schindler, the German industrialist named as Righteous Among the Nations decades ago for saving more than 1,000 Jews who worked in his factories.
The award is granted by Yad Vashem, Israel’s official Holocaust remembrance and educational organization, which has bestowed it on more than 25,000 people, only five of them American.The award is granted by Yad Vashem, Israel’s official Holocaust remembrance and educational organization, which has bestowed it on more than 25,000 people, only five of them American.
Also being honored on Wednesday is Lois Gunden, a French teacher from Goshen, Ind., who traveled to southern France in 1941 on a Mennonite service project and established a home there where she sheltered children, including Jews whose parents she persuaded to leave them in her care, rather than face deportation or worse. Also being honored on Wednesday was Lois Gunden, a French teacher from Goshen, Ind., who traveled to southern France in 1941 on a Mennonite service project and established a home there where she sheltered children, including Jews whose parents she persuaded to leave them in her care, rather than face deportation or worse.
Mary Jean Gunden, 61, Ms. Gunden’s niece, said that her aunt had a “standard line” that she went to France in 1941 and ran a children’s home. She was later detained in Baden-Baden, Germany, by the Nazis, and she went home in a prisoner exchange in 1944. “Unfortunately, none of us really asked a whole lot more than that,” Mary Jean Gunden said. “I’m not convinced that she ever actually realized the magnitude of what she had done.”Mary Jean Gunden, 61, Ms. Gunden’s niece, said that her aunt had a “standard line” that she went to France in 1941 and ran a children’s home. She was later detained in Baden-Baden, Germany, by the Nazis, and she went home in a prisoner exchange in 1944. “Unfortunately, none of us really asked a whole lot more than that,” Mary Jean Gunden said. “I’m not convinced that she ever actually realized the magnitude of what she had done.”
After her aunt’s death in 2005, the younger Ms. Gunden, a retired college administrator, researched her past, rifling through an old trunk containing letters, journals and beach sandals for clues about what she had done in the seaside town of Canet Plage. She eventually contacted Yad Vashem with what she learned.After her aunt’s death in 2005, the younger Ms. Gunden, a retired college administrator, researched her past, rifling through an old trunk containing letters, journals and beach sandals for clues about what she had done in the seaside town of Canet Plage. She eventually contacted Yad Vashem with what she learned.
“Nobody talked about what happened during the war — it’s just now that people are trying to unearth what really was done and to find the stories of the people who tried to do good during these very dark times,” said Eric Escudier, a municipal worker in Perpignan, France, who, with his mother and aunt, wrote a book about Ms. Gunden and the home she had established.“Nobody talked about what happened during the war — it’s just now that people are trying to unearth what really was done and to find the stories of the people who tried to do good during these very dark times,” said Eric Escudier, a municipal worker in Perpignan, France, who, with his mother and aunt, wrote a book about Ms. Gunden and the home she had established.
Just as thousands of Syrian refugees are spilling into European countries where citizens regard them with some degree of fear and suspicion, Mr. Escudier said, Ms. Gunden saw an influx of Spanish and Jewish children whose very presence in her care could put her life at risk.Just as thousands of Syrian refugees are spilling into European countries where citizens regard them with some degree of fear and suspicion, Mr. Escudier said, Ms. Gunden saw an influx of Spanish and Jewish children whose very presence in her care could put her life at risk.
“There are not that many people who would leave their homes and go to do that sort of work,” he said. “But she was there to help people.”“There are not that many people who would leave their homes and go to do that sort of work,” he said. “But she was there to help people.”
While Sergeant Edmonds’s relatives knew he had been taken prisoner by the Germans after the Battle of the Bulge, he had said little about his experiences, telling his family that there were some things that were too difficult to talk about, said his son Chris Edmonds.While Sergeant Edmonds’s relatives knew he had been taken prisoner by the Germans after the Battle of the Bulge, he had said little about his experiences, telling his family that there were some things that were too difficult to talk about, said his son Chris Edmonds.
After Mr. Edmonds watched a short video his daughter produced in 2009 for a college assignment about her grandfather’s World War II service, he decided he needed to know more and pored over Sergeant Edmonds’s diaries, which contained no account of the episode other than the phrase “before the commander” with no explanation.After Mr. Edmonds watched a short video his daughter produced in 2009 for a college assignment about her grandfather’s World War II service, he decided he needed to know more and pored over Sergeant Edmonds’s diaries, which contained no account of the episode other than the phrase “before the commander” with no explanation.
“What that means to me now is, ‘I stood before the commander on behalf of my Jewish brothers,’ ” said Mr. Edmonds, a 58-year-old Southern Baptist pastor from Maryville, Tenn.“What that means to me now is, ‘I stood before the commander on behalf of my Jewish brothers,’ ” said Mr. Edmonds, a 58-year-old Southern Baptist pastor from Maryville, Tenn.
But an online search that turned up a New York Times article that made passing reference to Sergeant Edmonds’s deed solved the mystery. The 2008 article quoted Lester J. Tanner saying he owed his life to Sergeant Edmonds for his act of heroism years before.But an online search that turned up a New York Times article that made passing reference to Sergeant Edmonds’s deed solved the mystery. The 2008 article quoted Lester J. Tanner saying he owed his life to Sergeant Edmonds for his act of heroism years before.
“What still stands out for me are Roddie’s words and the surprise that we were saved,” said Mr. Tanner, now 92. After Sergeant Edmonds made his stand, “we did not relive the moment or express gratitude, for fear that Major Siegmann would change his mind,” he added, referring to the German officer who had given the order to identify the Jews.“What still stands out for me are Roddie’s words and the surprise that we were saved,” said Mr. Tanner, now 92. After Sergeant Edmonds made his stand, “we did not relive the moment or express gratitude, for fear that Major Siegmann would change his mind,” he added, referring to the German officer who had given the order to identify the Jews.
“I did not see Roddie again after he engineered our escape, but it was always there for me and my comrades to shape our own lives,” Mr. Tanner said.“I did not see Roddie again after he engineered our escape, but it was always there for me and my comrades to shape our own lives,” Mr. Tanner said.
Mr. Edmonds is working to get his father awarded the Medal of Honor, the United States’ highest military tribute. But he said that Wednesday’s recognition carried particular significance, given the recent tensions between the United States and Israel.Mr. Edmonds is working to get his father awarded the Medal of Honor, the United States’ highest military tribute. But he said that Wednesday’s recognition carried particular significance, given the recent tensions between the United States and Israel.
“It is an amazing honor, and then to see that, potentially, it could help strengthen the ties between the United States and Israel — that excites me,” Mr. Edmonds said, adding that he is a volunteer activist for American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the pro-Israel group that worked to defeat the nuclear deal with Iran. “It is an amazing honor, and then to see that, potentially, it could help strengthen the ties between the United States and Israel — that excites me,” Mr. Edmonds said, adding that he is a volunteer activist for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the pro-Israel group that worked to defeat the nuclear deal with Iran.
“I’m grateful that the president feels like it’s valuable to be there to honor all of the righteous and strengthen his relationship and our relationship with Israel,” Mr. Edmonds said.“I’m grateful that the president feels like it’s valuable to be there to honor all of the righteous and strengthen his relationship and our relationship with Israel,” Mr. Edmonds said.