Traces to Remember 2016

Traces to Remember

  • Photo by Karen Naumann
     
    ​The Consulate General of Mexico and the Consulate General of Israel, along with the Global Embassy of Activists for Peace hosted a “Traces to Remember” event in Houston to mark the International Day of Commemoration of the victims of the Holocaust as designated by the United Nations. 

    At the event, Rose Sherman Williams, a Holocaust survivor and Texas resident, spoke and was honored with a commemorative statue of the "Traces to Remember" Project. ​





     
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  • Prepared Transcript of Guy Cohen's Speech

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    Shalom and good evening.


    I would like to thank MR. JUAN ENRIQUE GARCIA and the GLOBAL EMBASSY OF ACTIVISTS FOR PEACE for initiating this important event and CONSUL GENERAL of Mexico OSCAR RODRIGUEZ CABRERA for the kind hospitality. I would also like to thank DR. EZRA CAPPELL from the University of Texas at El Paso and MR. DANIEL ESPINOZA from the Office of Representative Sheila Jackson Lee, Texas Senator Sylvia Garcia and many other and not less distinguished guests for taking part in this evening and honoring the 6 million Jews that were murdered during the Holocaust, as well as those who managed to survive the unimaginable horror.


    When courageous survivors, such as Mrs. Rose Sherman Williams, who we will hear speaking tonight and Ms. Lili Gordon, who recently wrote a book about her endurance, I cannot help myself from being amazed and deeply touched by listening to their stories of victory of light over evil. By telling their personal stories they ensure that our children and grandchildren will never have to experience such horror again. 


    Thank you Mrs. Williams and Ms. Gordon.


    As a Jew and an Israeli, the reality of the Holocaust is a part of our collective being; it will always be a significant landmark in Jewish life as a nation and individuals.


    Very thankfully, light conquered darkness, and that’s the reason that I am always moved when people from other countries speak about the Holocaust memories lived and passed on to them. Many of these stories are rooted in the bravery of their loved ones. Many are stories of heroism that gives hope to humanity.


    My Mexican friends are no different. Mexico, although 5,900 miles away, took a significant part in saving Jewish lives from occupied Europe. Many thousands of my people found a new home in Mexico, owing their life to Mexicans, such as Gilberto Bosques Saldívar, a Mexican Diplomat that served as a consul in Marseille, Vichy France.  Gilberto Saldívar took initiative to rescue tens of thousands of Jews- exiles from being deported to Nazi Germany. His heroism remained unknown to the world at large for some 60 years, until several years after his death at the age of 102. 

    There are many more Mexicans to whom we owe our deepest gratitude; those people have risked their family and their own life in order to save others.


    Unfortunately, some nations are not taking part of this important Memorial Day and that is putting it gently. Iran, for example, has recently announced another International Cartoon contest to deny and minimize the Holocaust. I am repulsed and disgusted, as should be any decent human being, by making light of the slaughter of six million of my people. 


    Anybody can see that Iran’s anti-Semitic cartoon contest is meant to incite hatred, which is often the motivator of violence and terrorism. The world should condemn this atrocious contest as firmly as we do. 


    To quote Israeli Speaker of the Knesset ’s letter to UN Secretary General on this matter: 


    “[…] there are no words strong enough to describe the contempt and profound disdain of the State of Israel, of the Israeli people and many others the world over, for Iran's insistent Holocaust denial, continued under Rouhani's regime despite its false façade of tolerance toward the Iranian, as well as World Jewry”


    My friends, it is not about politics. It is about our existence. It is about preventing the next Holocaust. 


    Standing here today, on the United Nations International Holocaust Remembrance Day, at the Consulate General of Mexico, I can only hope that this event will repeat itself in the next years and become another sign of infinite and strong friendship between Israel and Mexico. 


    Education and knowledge is our tool to fight ignorance and educate the world about one of humanity’s most vicious acts towards itself, and I certainly do see the light, as being initiated by organizations like the Global Embassy of Activists for Peace through projects such as Traces of Remembrance. They are doing the incredible work of spreading the stories and information throughout events like this one. Their deeds are humanity’s hope for global peace. I have also learned that Mexican students from a small school in Mexico City picked up the torch and initiated a mobile Holocaust Museum Called "Moments and Decisions". This museum is meant to explore European and Mexican histories during World War II and invites viewers to consider issues of identity, choices, and prejudice. Those students bring the museum to other high school and college campuses around the country to help others learn about this important chapter in their national history. My friends, I have no words to describe how important this is, since the modern way of communication is mainly by our cellular phones and computers.


     have learned recently from a research done by Israeli students that Hitler is not dead. He is alive and active on social media. His pages on the Internet gain thousands and thousands of “likes”. Pages of anti-Semitism are spread out and can be found all over the internet. 


    Therefore, Those acts of education, in schools and online,  all over the world, in Mexico,  in the United States and here tonight, are teaching the truth, shining the light, and making sure we will always remember and never, never again. 


    Thank you and Shalom

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    ​​Rose Williams was born in Radom, Poland. She and her three siblings, a younger sister and brother and an older brother along with her parents, had a lovely life in Radom. Her father owned a leather factory. When Germany invaded Poland in 1939, Rose’s life as a twelve year old was changed forever.

    The Sherman family was forced to move out of their home and move into a ghetto. There the entire family lived in one room. In 1942, the ghetto was liquidated and Rose was separated from her family and sent to another town in Poland where she worked in an ammunition factory. During this time she learned that her parents perished. From there she was sent to Auschwitz where she received her tattoo. Life in Auschwitz was extremely hard for Rose. Because she had no shoes, her feet became frostbitten and full of sores. However, it was also in Auschwitz where she was reunited with her sister, Binne. Towards the end of the war, she was forced to march to Bergen-Belsen, the worst camp that Rose had witnessed. On April 15, 1945 she was liberated by British troops.

    After liberation, she worked in Stuttgart, Germany until arriving in the United States.​
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