Americans Came to Liberate, not Conquer:
American Soldiers/ Holocaust Survivors Reunion
Hudson Falls High School, Hudson Falls, New York
September 22-26, 2009
2010 will mark the 65th anniversary of the end of World War II, and the recent D-Day remembrance ceremonies in Normandy, France, marked the beginning of the commemoration of the liberation of Europe. The signature phrase of the United States World War II Memorial in Washington, DC, is that “Americans Came to Liberate, not Conquer.” Yet during their travails across France, the Low Countries, and into Germany itself, many soldiers wondered aloud about the circumstances that took them so far away from home. The drudgery and boredom of Army routine and regulation, not to mention the months of being shot at or shelled, were all taking their toll. However, it slowly became clear to many what they had been fighting for all along as they encountered the evidence of years of Nazi tyranny. And when our soldiers themselves witnessed the atrocities of the greatest crime committed in the history of the mankind, the Holocaust, all questioning ceased. Americans had indeed come to liberate.
Three weeks before the end of World War II in Europe, on the morning of Friday, April 13th, 1945, the 30th Infantry Division and attached units were fighting their way eastward in the final drive through central Germany toward the Elbe River. A small task force was formed to investigate a train that had been hastily abandoned by German soldiers near the town of Magdeburg, Germany. The boxcars were filled with Jewish families that had survived the infamous concentration camp at Bergen-Belsen and were now being transported away from the advancing Allies to another death camp location. Scores of children were among the prisoners.
In 2001, as part of a class project collecting the testimony of World War II veterans, Mr. Matthew Rozell, a teacher at Hudson Falls High School, interviewed one of his student’s grandparents, a tank commander who told him this story. This long forgotten event was about to spring to life. Holocaust survivors all over the world who had been children aboard the death train began to find their rescuers’ narratives and even the photographs of the day of their liberation near Magdeburg in 1945 on this oral history website, www.hfcsd.org/ww2, produced by Mr. Rozell and his students.
Mr. Rozell created a second website, www.teachinghistorymatters.wordpress.com, devoted to collecting these testimonies and recording the unfolding organic nature of this reconnection of survivors and liberators.
Now the time has come to celebrate the American soldiers and the Holocaust survivors whose lives were saved by this chance encounter. Soldiers from all over the nation and survivors from all over the world will be coming together to meet each other, in many instances, for the first time since liberation day on April 13th, 1945, at Hudson Falls High School in upstate NY.
What will also make this gathering unique is that the primary focus, besides honoring the soldiers and survivors, will be on education. It will be witnessed by as many as 1500 students and thousands more via a live feed on our school website, and it will be professionally recorded for educational purposes. In addition, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum will be participating, and representatives of the Bergen Belsen Memorial in Germany will fly in to participate as well. Major news organizations are expected to cover the event.
As we approach the 65th anniversary of the liberation, it becomes apparent that the power of love has conquered that of evil and is now transcending time and space. For more information, contact:
American Soldiers/ Holocaust Survivors Reunion Committee
Hudson Falls High School
Hudson Falls, NY 12839
518-747-2121
| Tuesday, Sept. 22 | Wednesday, Sept. 23 | Thursday, Sept. 24 | Friday, Sept. 25 | Saturday, Sept. 26 |
| ArrivalIf you wish, interviews with film crews.
Welcoming Dinner, Hotel |
Breakfast in Hudson Falls-Reunion Program, school
Catered Luncheon, school -Reunion Program, school Dinner Cruise, Lake George |
Breakfast, Hotel-Reunion Program, school
Catered Luncheon, school -Reunion Program, school Dinner, Hotel |
Breakfast, Hotel-Reunion Program, school
Catered Luncheon, school -Reunion Program, school Final Banquet, Hotel |
Departure |
I just found out last week that my mother was on this train. It answers so many major questions ie. My mother and thereby our obsession with dignity etc.
So, I have now have some heavy motivation to save up and hopefully my mother, my sister, and I will be able to make it come September.
my father (levy zeev geory) was also on the same train. after so meny years he started to tell us his full story. I need mor infomaion abut this meeting. and abut this train. my father have 2 daughters and we are living in israel. and my self is an art teacher.
hi
we sorry that we cent come to this meeting, it was to expensive and far for us (israel). my fhater, levy zeev geory, was also on the same train. he was 11 years old. and born in hungagy. first he and his family was taken to a labor camp in Austria. and afeter that they wer taken to Bergen Belsen camp. at the and they taken to the same train. this event is very exciting, and we will be glad to sand you a pictures of my fhater and the family. second, if you can send us a video or pictures from the event. we will be grateful. we wish all of you good lock. and a big hug to the amazing soldiers who save my fhater and anothers. thanks to them my fhater have 2 daughters ans 4 grandchild.
My brother, Benjamin Ireton aka Speedy, was a member of the 30th Infantry Division from its inception until the wars end. Does any of the surviors of the 30th remember him?
I am exited to read this. I am also one of the survivers of the train, together with my 2 sisters and one brother. My mother died 3 days after the liberation, but we are all living in The netherlands (the sisters and me) in Israel my brother.
Understand there has been a reunion just now. Can I recieve a report from this meeting?
Thank you,
fanny heymann
I just tried to subscribe to your RSS feed, but it gave me an error. Just wanted to let you know.
I just found out about this reunion by chance. My mother who died 12 years ago had told us the story since we were kids. She was 17 years old and was liberated together with her sister, two brothers and mother by the soldiers who saw their train. My mother wrote her memoirs and there she describes the kindness of the soldiers who took care of them, found places to live and helped them to get back to life. She even mentions the chocolates and chewing gum she received from them.
I would appreciate any information about the reunion or other relevant information.
Our families live in Israel nowadays.
Thanks,
Shoshana
this was not the only train of that kind.
I am living in Iffeldorf, south of Munich in Germany, where a train with 2600 survivors of KZ Dachau was liberated by US Soldiers on April 30, 1945. The trainstation was called Iffeldorf-Staltach. I am doing a research on that. If you have any information about it, please let me know. I am looking for Testimonies from survivors as well as from US Soldiers.
Congratulation for your website. It is so important not to forget the past as well as being concerned about the future.
Thank you
Hans