HOLOCAUST: 'LEST WE FORGET' ETCH HISTORY IN MIND, SURVIVORS SAY.Byline: Josh Kleinbaum Staff Writer Four weeks before the British Army The British Army is the land armed forces branch of the British Armed Forces. It came into being with unification of the governments and armed forces of England and Scotland into the United Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. liberated the Bergen-Belson concentration camp, Nazi soldiers handed a towel to Miriam Bell. For the 15-year-old Jew, the towel meant one thing: She was about to be sent to the gas chamber. But the girl survived the Nazi selection, although the memory of that day still haunts her 60 years later - a memory she described Thursday as more than 3,000 people gathered at Pan Pacific Park for Holocaust Remembrance Day. ``We should have (ceremonies) for as long as life goes on,'' said Bell, now 74 and living in Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. . ``It can never be forgotten. That is very important.'' Religious and community leaders paid tribute to the 6 million Jews who died at the hands of the Nazis during World War II. And with the generation of survivors dwindling dwin·dle v. dwin·dled, dwin·dling, dwin·dles v.intr. To become gradually less until little remains. v.tr. To cause to dwindle. See Synonyms at decrease. , they focused on the importance of passing on the lessons of the Holocaust to children. ``I'm one of the younger survivors at 77,'' said Jona Goldrich, chairman of the Los Angeles Holocaust Monument, who fled Nazi-occupied Poland at age 14. ``I'm concerned that in another 10 or 15 years, there will be no Holocaust survivors There are many famous Holocaust survivors who survived the Nazi genocides in Europe and went on to achievements of great fame and notability. Those listed here were, at the very least, residents of the parts of Europe occupied by the Axis powers during World War II who survived . In high school, they teach what happened 2,000 years ago, but they don't teach what happened 60 years ago. Next time, it might not happen to the Jews. It might happen to another minority.'' With a light rain falling - ``God's tears for the murdered Jews,'' state Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi John Raymond Garamendi (born January 24, 1945) is a U.S. politician and a member of the Democratic Party. He became the 46th Lieutenant Governor of California on January 8 2007. said - the audience gathered in a large blue-and-white tent surrounded by blue-and-white Israeli flags. Many in the audience wore a message, 'Lest we forget,' imprinted on their hats, and several speakers echoed that theme in their remarks. ``There will always be hope,'' said Rabbi Mark Borovitz of Beit T'Shuvah. ``We will take up the challenge and the commitment to make our world better, so that what ended 60 years ago will never - will never, will never - happen again.'' The speakers included Mayor James Hahn, who discussed the resurgence of anti-Semitism in the past few years. City Councilman Antonio Villaraigosa, who is challenging Hahn in the May 17 election, was not listed on the program but spoke on behalf of the City Council, urging the thousands of students in the crowd to learn about the strength and the courage of Holocaust survivors. Garamendi said the characteristics and emotions pervasive in Germany in the 1930s - intolerance, ignorance, blaming and hating - are thriving around the globe today, even in the United States. ``Jihads, pogroms, ethnic 'cleansings' and genocides continue to plague the human race,'' Garamendi said. ``All too often, that plague is nurtured for political expediency.'' Garamendi compared the Nazi Brownshirts and members of the Minuteman movement who patrolled the Arizona-Mexico border last month, saying they both targeted minorities. Some in the audience took strong issue with that comparison. ``Thoughtful immigration policy is not promoted by comparing citizen Minutemen to Nazis,'' said Larry Greenfield, director of the Southern California Republican Jewish Coalition The Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) (formerly the National Jewish Coalition), founded in 1985, is a political lobbying group in the United States that advocates Jewish support for the Republican Party. . ``I'm concerned by the easy comparison to the vicious Nazi Brownshirts.'' Earlier in the day, Hahn joined Garamendi and Jewish community leaders to rekindle re·kin·dle tr.v. re·kin·dled, re·kin·dling, re·kin·dles 1. To relight (a fire). 2. To revive or renew: rekindled an old interest in the sciences. the Flame of Remembrance at the Museum of Tolerance The Museum of Tolerance is a multimedia museum in Los Angeles, California, with an associated museum in New York City, designed to examine racism and prejudice in the United States and the world with a strong focus on the history of the Holocaust. during a tribute to the Allied soldiers who liberated 27 European nations. A new exhibit, ``Liberation! Revealing the Unspeakable,'' was opened with more than 200 photographs, taken by American GIs and others, of Nazi death and labor camps. In one photo, five survivors hail liberators at Bergen-Belson. ``Look at these faces. In one of my favorite (photos), the happiness, the relief - they've seen their savior,'' said Eric Saul, curator of the exhibit. ``This is the crime of the century and the millennium.'' Ron Frydman of Sherman Oaks, former principal of Robert Frost Middle School Robert Frost Middle School may refer to one of the following:
Frydman, who instructs area schoolteachers about the Holocaust for the Anti-Defamation League Anti-Defamation League B’nai B’rith organization which fights anti-Semitism. [Am. Hist.: Wigoder, 33] See : Anti-Semitism , said preventing another Holocaust starts at home. ``It's man's inhumanity in·hu·man·i·ty n. pl. in·hu·man·i·ties 1. Lack of pity or compassion. 2. An inhuman or cruel act. inhumanity Noun pl -ties 1. to man, the apex of prejudice and hate,'' Frydman, 64, said before he left last week for Poland. ``It starts at the local level, by kids saying hateful things to others - you're fat, you're ugly, you're stupid - or disparaging dis·par·age tr.v. dis·par·aged, dis·par·ag·ing, dis·par·ag·es 1. To speak of in a slighting or disrespectful way; belittle. See Synonyms at decry. 2. To reduce in esteem or rank. remarks about racial ethnicity. If it's not controlled, if it's not stopped, look what can happen when you dehumanize de·hu·man·ize tr.v. de·hu·man·ized, de·hu·man·iz·ing, de·hu·man·iz·es 1. To deprive of human qualities such as individuality, compassion, or civility: people. ``It's easy to go to the next step, which is to exterminate people.'' Staff Writer Dana Bartholomew contributed to this report. Josh Kleinbaum, (818) 713-3669 josh.kleinbaum(at)dailynews.com IF YOU GO The March of Gratitude, celebrating the 60th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day For the end of the war in Japan and the Pacific Theater, see . Victory in Europe Day (V-E Day or VE Day) was May 7 and May 8, 1945, the dates when the World War II Allies formally accepted the unconditional surrender of the armed forces of Nazi Germany and the , will begin at 10 a.m. Sunday at Pico Boulevard and Century Park East. A brief program will follow at the Museum of Tolerance. CAPTION(S): 3 photos, box Photo: (1 -- color) A march begins Thursday in Oswiecim, Poland, where Nazis built the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp. Janek Skarzynski/AFP/Getty Images (2) Holocaust survivor Ester Pulvermacher, 82, in a white hat, lights a Remembrance Day candle Thursday in Los Angeles. (3) Karl, 80, and Max Wozniak, 78, look at the L.A. Holocaust Monument. In youth, the brothers fled Nazi-occupied Poland. John McCoy/Staff Photographer Box: IF YOU GO (see text) |
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