Days of Remembrance

1. Days of Remembrance Learning from the Holocaust: Legacy of Perseverance

2. Commemorating Days of Remembrance Each year, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum leads the nation in commemorating Days of Remembrance. Days of Remembrance was established by the U.S. Congress to memorialize the six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust—as well as the millions of non-Jewish victims of Nazi persecution. Days of Remembrance Photo courtesy of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum

3. Introduction to the Holocaust Holocaust is a word of Greek origin meaning “sacrifice by fire.” The Nazis, who came to power in Germany in January 1933, believed that Germans were “racially superior” and that the Jews, deemed “inferior,” were an alien threat to the so-called German racial community. German authorities also targeted other groups because of their perceived “racial inferiority”: Roma (Gypsies), individuals with disabilities, and Slavic peoples (Poles, Russians, and others). Other groups were persecuted on political, ideological, and behavioral grounds, among them Communists, Socialists, Jehovah's Witnesses, and homosexuals. Introduction to the Holocaust

4. The Week of Remembrance The week of remembrance is set aside to honor and to remember the victims of the Holocaust and their liberators. We must never forget the great atrocity of which mankind is capable. This presentation shares the story of Anthony Acevedo, a World War II veteran and Holocaust survivor, and his Legacy of Perseverance.

5. Anthony Acevedo Anthony Acevedo was a 20-year-old medic in the U.S. Army’s 70th Infantry Division, when he—along with 350 U.S. soldiers— was captured by the Germans following the Battle of the Bulge, one of the bloodiest battles of World War II. They were transported to the Berga An Der Elster, a slave labor camp, and a subcamp of the Buchenwald concentration camp. Photos courtesy of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum

6. Acevedo’s Diary While a prisoner of war, Acevedo kept a diary of the soldiers’ experiences. It was ingrained in him as a medic and a soldier to honor the Army Warrior Ethos: I will always place the mission first. I will never accept defeat. I will never quit. I will never leave a fallen comrade. All quotes from Acevedo’s diary are presented exactly as recorded. Photo courtesy of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum Army Warrior Ethos

7. Diary Entry (pages 17, 23) Acevedo recorded their constant struggles and the deaths of his fellow comrades. April 7, 1945 “…We started out with 304 men from Berga-Elster—we now have 287 men.” Photos courtesy of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum

8. Diary Entry (page 42) “The German guard swung his rifle at me and my buddy hitting us with the butt in the face cracked one of my jaws tooth…” Photos courtesy of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum

9. Diary Entry (page 47) “There were days in prison camp when we thought our liberation would never come or that our bodies would resist any more…” Acevedo was liberated on April 23, 1945, by the 11th Armored Division. He weighed 87 pounds. He received several awards, including the Bronze Star for his wartime service. Photo courtesy of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum

10. Acevedo’s Donation In 2010, Acevedo donated his diary to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum along with personal artifacts. Additionally, he became the first Mexican American to register with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum's Holocaust survivor list. Anthony Acevedo story Photo courtesy of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum

11. Donation Comments Scott Miller, the Holocaust Museum’s director of curatorial affairs said, “This diary exemplifies the fact that the Holocaust is a story that belongs to many types of people from various ethnic, religious, national groups.” He went on to say to Acevedo, “You did your best as a medic, you did your very best as a witness to history by writing this diary for us and future generations.” Photo courtesy of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum Donation Comments

12. Liberation Today, we carry forward the proud legacy of men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces who played an essential role in liberating the camps at Buchenwald, Dora-Mittelbau, Flossenbürg, Dachau, and Mauthausen. American forces not only secured freedom for the survivors of Nazi horrors, they also ensured that the world would know about all that had happened. Photo courtesy of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum

13. End Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute, Patrick Air Force Base, Florida February 2018 All photographs are public domain and are from various sources, as cited. The findings in this report are not to be construed as an official DEOMI, U.S. military services, or Department of Defense position.