Victims remembered during Holocaust Days of Remembrance Published April 23, 2015 By Airman 1st Class John Day 14th Flying Training Wing Public Affairs COLUMBUS AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. -- In honor of Holocaust Remembrance Week, Columbus Air Force Base, Mississippi, hosted a museum at the Columbus Club April 21 dedicated to the victims of the Holocaust. "This kind of event is something worthy of observance," said Master Sgt. Carolyn Stewart, Holocaust Remembrance Committee Project Officer. "Airmen everywhere need to be made aware of these events so that history does not repeat itself." The genocide that took place during the Holocaust from 1941 to 1944 led to the death of approximately six million Jewish people. In 1942 many of the Jewish that were in containment by the Nazi regime and its collaborators were sent to concentration camps where they were forced into extreme labor. The majority of these camps were disease-ridden and their inhabitants were suffering from extreme starvation. During the last months of the war the concentration camp guards moved the prisoners between camps on forced marches, often referred to as death marches, in an attempt to evade Allied forces. The last official day of World War II in Europe was May 8, 1945, as the German forces surrendered the day before. The museum consisted of a 15-minute documentary and a room with props and educational boards. The film documented the survivors of the Holocaust and showed their experiences through that time and how they reclaimed their lives afterward. The museum had boards from the Birmingham Holocaust Education Center detailing the survivor's stories and gave a brief history of the Holocaust. "The events we have put on today really have encapsulated just went on during the Holocaust," said Airman 1st Class Sean Juroviesky, member of the Holocaust Remembrance Committee. "The video and static displays are very powerful communicators." Hosting yearly events like this keeps Airmen educated and allows the victims to not be forgotten. "The Air Force is diverse," Stewart said. "Recognizing all nationalities and the struggles they have endured make us more resilient."
