JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas –
Brooke Army Medical Center staff, family members and guests gathered in the fourth floor auditorium for the Days of Remembrance Observance April 25.
“Throughout the course of the year, we attend many events to celebrate and remember,” said Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Johnson, Brooke Army Medical Center commanding general. “But today, our reason for being here is simpler. We are here to ensure that our nation, our people and the world never forget. Today we pause in honor and remembrance of the victims of the Holocaust.”
The BAMC commander also said we must always remember the lives lost and pledge to stand in eternal vigil against tyranny and hatred.
“We reflect with somber introspection at the scale of man’s inhumanity toward man,” Johnson said. “But find comfort in the stories of survivors and heroes who show the courage and humanity of which mankind is capable.”
One of these survivor stories was told by guest speaker Varda Ratner. Ratner told the story of how her parents, Nathan and Ilona Haendel, avoided capture during the war.
“My father was able to escape Poland before the Nazi takeover.” Ratner said. “He later joined the French Resistance and was wounded fighting the Nazis. He managed to finally settle in British Palestine.”
However, Ratner’s mother, who was from Budapest, was briefly captured.
“My mother told the story of her, my grandmother and a cousin being marched to a factory where they were expected to do slave labor,” recalls Ratner.
The three escaped during the night. “My mother had this human spirit of survival,” Ratner said.
Ratner’s mother also escaped to British Palestine. Her parents met and were married shortly after.
The Haendels later relocated to Brazil where Nathan accepted an assignment as a Nazi hunter, but after his cover was blown, the family moved to the United States.
“Denying anyone’s humanity betrays our own and an attack on any faith is an attack on all of our faiths,” said BAMC Command Sgt. Maj. Diamond Hough. “As members of the military, we come from diverse backgrounds, many ethnicities and varied beliefs, but we stand united as one to protect and defend our country and stand up to injustice around the globe.”
Days of Remembrance was established by the U.S. Congress to memorialize the six million Jews killed in the Holocaust as well as the millions of non-Jewish victims of Nazi persecution.