The Tri County Holocaust Committee will hold a free community program on Thursday, April 28, commemorating International Holocaust Remembrance Day, otherwise known as “Yom Hashoah.”
The annual event organized by Temple Shalom of Central Florida remembers those who perished in the Holocaust, those who survived and the families and friends they lost. We also honor the courageous rescuers and brave liberators whose heroism continues to inspire us today.
The program will take place at 4 p.m. at St. Timothy Catholic Church in The Villages. Doors open at 3 p.m. St. Timothy’s was the site for five years before the pandemic, and organizers are pleased to return to a live service after two years of multimedia programs. As the survivors and liberators grow older and pass away, it is critical that the truth about what happened during the Holocaust be remembered.
This year’s theme is “The Power to Overcome Hate” and focuses on The Ritchie Boys, Special Intelligence Soldiers in World War II. The topic will be “How real time communications capabilities and accurate information defeat the war of disinformation in Ukraine.”
“The Ritchie Boys were one of World War II’s greatest secret weapons for U.S. Army intelligence,” said incoming U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum Chairman Stuart E. Eizenstat. “Many had fled Nazi Germany but returned as American soldiers, deploying their knowledge of German language and culture to great advantage. They significantly helped the war effort and saved lives. We are honored to recognize the unique role they played serving the United States and advancing our victory over Germany.”
Facing significant intelligence deficiencies, in April 1942, the U.S. Army activated a plan to convert Fort Ritchie, a Maryland National Guard Camp, into an intelligence training center. Approximately 20,000 men — many of whom were immigrants and refugees from more than 70 countries, including 2,800 German and Austrian refugees who fled Nazi persecution and had arrived in the United States as “enemy aliens” — were trained there. They became known as the “Ritchie Boys.” Their enormous contributions to defeating Nazism — one Army study concluded they were responsible for obtaining nearly 60 percent of the actionable intelligence gathered in Europe during the war—and their postwar justice efforts remain little known to Americans even today.
After their training, the Ritchie Boys were dispersed in different Army units. Many landed on the beaches of Normandy soon after D-Day. From that point on, Ritchie Boys were involved in every major battle in Europe, using their language skills to gather intelligence, interpret enemy documents, and engage in psychological warfare encouraging German soldiers to surrender by dropping leaflets, through radio broadcasts, and in trucks equipped with loudspeakers. Hundreds of Ritchie Boys were attached to divisions that liberated concentration camps and interviewed former prisoners to document the atrocities that took place. Jewish soldiers were in great danger if captured, and two were captured and executed due to being identified by their captors as German-born Jews. After the war, a number served as translators and interrogators — especially during the Nuremberg Trials.
In August 2021, the bipartisan U.S. Senate Resolution 349 officially recognized the bravery of those troops. About 200 Ritchie Boys are estimated to be alive today. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum conferred its highest honor, the Elie Wiesel Award, on the Ritchie Boys.
The Holocaust happened because discrimination and hatred could grow and control governments. The categories of victim, bystander, perpetrator and rescuer makes the Holocaust a current story for all humanity by educating and making sure that the public understands how a government and people in power manipulated entire countries through propaganda and fear. The danger is still present in 2022. This year’s program will present how the environment today has changed due to improvements in technology. The Internet, social media, smart phones and open data channels help the Ukrainians get their story out to inform the public and affect change.
Temple Shalom Rabbi Zev Sonnenstein will blow the Shofar to commemorate the Holocaust, joined by local clergy. The traditional candle lighting ceremony is where we recognize local Holocaust survivors, liberators, Holocaust educators, righteous citizens, second- and third-generation, clergy and military members who participate in this Interfaith Event.
The student winners of the Holocaust Writing and Art Competition from the Sumter County Middle Schools and The Villages Charter Middle School will be recognized during this event. The essays which are required from all students ponder the question from the theme this year. The Committee is appreciative of the Principals and Teachers who teach the students about the Holocaust and run the competition.
In the context of history, many Americans and Europeans do not know or believe that the Holocaust happened in modern times. They are seeing genocide perpetrated against innocent people today. It is important that all of us as human beings never forget so that millions who suffered and perished did not die in vain and that we continue to make this a much better world. Even today’s headlines are full of antisemitic and racial issues that can only be combatted by education.
This program is free and open to the community. Yom Hashoah is the internationally recognized Day of Remembrance and is a time when caring people Jew and Non-Jew alike join us as a reminder to protest prejudice and genocide in any form.
If you know of a local survivor, second- or third-generation, liberator or clergy who would like to participate in this event or get more information, contact Susan Sirmai Feinberg, Committee Chair, at communications@tscfl.org or 410-818-8510.
