Jump to content

'You don't forget'


teufelhunde.ret
 Share

Recommended Posts

teufelhunde.ret

By Wayne Drash, CNN

October 28, 2010 9:38 a.m. EDT

 

Washington (CNN) -- The tattered journal, its pages yellow with age, contains the painful memories of a U.S. medic, a man who recorded the deaths of soldiers who survived one of World War II's bloodiest battles yet met their end as slaves in Nazi Germany.

 

32. Hamilton 4-5-45

33. Young 4-5-45

34. Smith 4-9-45

35. Vogel 4-9-45

36. Wagner 4-9-45

 

"Some were dying," said its author, Tony Acevedo, now 86. "Some died, and I made a notation of that."

 

Flipping through the pages, you encounter a horrific part of world history through the eyes of a 20-year-old inside a slave labor camp. Amid the horror, the journal captures extraordinary human moments of war. Acevedo sketched beautiful women in the back pages, pinups whose eyes provided comfort amid hell. Acevedo kept the diary hidden in his pants. He feared death if the commanders saw it. Yet he believed it was his duty as an Army medic to catalog the deaths and the atrocities against the 350 U.S. soldiers at the camp known as Berga, a subcamp of the notorious Buchenwald compound.

 

With his hair silver-streaked and a smile that exudes charm, Acevedo recently made the journey from his California home to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in the nation's capital. He carried his Red Cross medic's band, a cross that provided comfort in war and his diary. He also brought a prayer book that he read to the sick and dying. "I speak for all my buddies who were there," Acevedo told museum staff members in a private ceremony. "I turn this over to the Holocaust museum with honor and pleasure, with all my heart."

 

He spoke softly, gently. Like the book itself, his hands showed the mark of time. His face beamed with pride, his chin held high. On his lapel, he wore a pin with a star and beneath it the words: "U.S. Army." Acevedo flipped through the diary pages one final time. He licked his finger, like he'd done thousands of times over the past 65 years, to help turn a page, drawing raised eyebrows among archivists. As personal as the diary is, for the museum, it underscores a universal truth about the Holocaust -- in which 6 million Jews were killed -- that sometimes escapes notice.

 

"This diary exemplifies the fact that the Holocaust is a story that belongs to many types of people from various ethnic, religious, national groups," said Scott Miller, the museum's director of curatorial affairs. I turn this over to the Holocaust museum with honor and pleasure, with all my heart. You did your best as a medic," he told Acevedo. "You did your very best as a witness to history by writing this diary for us and future generations."

 

The room erupted with applause. Acevedo smiled and nodded his head in thanks. It took six decades for the U.S. Army to publicly recognize the Berga soldiers -- largely the result of Acevedo's diary and his telling his story to CNN two years ago.

On this visit, he became the first Mexican-American to register with the museum's Holocaust survivor list -- out of 225,000 others. His diary is one of 150 donated to the museum and the first written by an American captive.

 

It almost never made it out of the slave labor camp. Twice, it fell in front of an older Austrian guard, the only one at the camp with any compassion. "He would ask me what I write. I would say, 'I'm writing about the nice vacation I'm taking here in your compounds.' "The guard would laugh. "I'll never forget him," Acevedo said, his voice trailing off into the past.

 

Singled out and sent to slave labor camp Rest of story and video:

http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/10/28/aceve...dex.html?hpt=C1

Link to comment
Share on other sites

And some idiots say the holocaust never took place?!!?!! :crying:

 

And I'm still not sure why?? Ignoring history does not change it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

teufelhunde.ret
And some idiots say the holocaust never took place?!!?!! :crying:

... and I swear a few of them are running for elected office this year! :pinch:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...
Javelin4life

Its sad how people actually think it didnt happen..although people choose to ignore events, its inevitable that history will repeat itself..a perfect example was with Hitler invading russia during winter and having his forces get annihilated..isnt that the same thing that happened to Napoleon?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...