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 in a small town in upstate New York, interviewed a tank commander, the grandfather of one of his students, who mentioned one day in combat in April, 1945 in which he and another tank commander were ordered to go and investigate a train full of civilians that they stumbled across during the final battles of the war in Nazi Germany. His curiosity heightened, Mr. Rozell began to dig deeper into what had really unfolded on that day. This long forgotten event was about to spring to life; the result of this teacher’s work has made a profound impact on thousands of lives all over the world.
Rescuing the evidence of the Holocaust and of World War IIand honoring the history all of the veterans and survivors is Rozell’s mission. “There are so many lessons here – lessons of self-sacrifice and duty. This war brought out the worst in people and it brought out the best of people,” says Rozell. “When you look at this mini snapshot of time, you see it all. In the end, good triumphs over evil.”
In April 2010, as a U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum Teacher Fellow, Mr. Rozell was invited to witness the nation’s Days of Remembrance ceremonies held in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda, honoring the liberators of the camps. He was also named as the 2009 Daughters of the American Revolution Outstanding Teacher of American History for New York State, and on the national level, chosen as the 2010 Organization of American Historians Tachau Teacher of the Year in Washington, DC. To date, he has organized five reunions and was also honored on September 25th, 2009 as the ABC World News Person of the Week for his efforts to keep history alive (“Teacher takes students on a journey of humanity”). He has taught history at his alma mater for over two decades.
The 2 DVD set celebrates 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 have come together to offer testimony and meet each other, in many instances, for the first time since liberation day on April 13th, 1945.
The program is no longer available.
- “Today I saw a sight that is impossible to describe…I’ll never forget today….”-letter home from Charles Kincaid, 30th Infantry Division, US 9th Army
- “Carrol and I were again side by side as we came up to the train with Major Benjamin, chased the remaining German guards away, and declared the train and its captives free members of society under the protection of the United States Army, as represented by two light tanks….” George C. Gross, 743rd Tank Battalion, US 9th Army
- “How could we [the world] have stood by and let that happen to them? We owe them.” Carrol Walsh, 743rd Tank Battalion, US 9th Army
- “I often wonder what this world would be like if those six million had never perished.” Frank Towers, 30th Infantry Division, US 9th Army
- “I got out of this train and I saw the greenery and the wild flowers. It was wonderful because suddenly I was seeing things in color. Everything that I’d remembered about the camp was black and white…” Elisabeth Seaman, Survivor
- “Against all odds I am standing here before you.” Steven Barry, Survivor
- “Hatred is something we must fight against…silence helps the oppressors. I tell my story so that it won’t become your future…” Leslie Meisels, Survivor
- “We cannot be lax at all. We must keep the faith. We must tell others.” Buster Simmons, 30th Infantry Division, US 9th Army
- “I’m listed as a liberator, but I’m a survivor of WWII… We must ever be thankful. We must never take freedom for granted.” William Gast, 743rd Tank Battalion, US 9th Army
- “After they gave us back our lives, we need to live each day.” Paul Arato, Survivor
- “You have the power to heal the world.” Lev Raphael, son of Holocaust survivors
- ” The smell of cordite… that is one of the things you remember…” Francis Currey, MOH, 30th Infantry Division, US 9th Army
- ” The day my father was liberated from the POW camp, he left hating behind and began living.” Robert Miller, son of 30th Infantry Division soldier
- “The Germans didn’t get a chance to kill us, because you, the American angels, came on time.” Ariela Rojek, Survivor
- “We were kids-kids are the future-people were starving to death-but {the adults} made sure that the kids ate…” Micha Tomkiewicz, Survivor
- “During the war, the majority… did not care. Even if a neighbor was taken away, it did not mean a damn thing…” Fred Spiegel, Survivor
- “Love gives us wings to soar above it all.” Sara Atzmon, Survivor
Program Notes: “Americans came to Liberate, Not Conquer”
Americans Soldiers/Holocaust Survivors Reunion
Disc One: The American Soldier Liberators (124 minutes)
Introduction by Mr. Rene Roberge, Hudson Falls High School
Film, Honoring Liberation, USHMM (April 2010)/ABC World News Persons of the Week (9-25-09)
Reading: A Letter to the Chaplain: A Liberator’s 1945 Eyewitness Account of the Farsleben Train
Tribute to Liberator/Photographer George C. Gross, 743rd Tank Battalion
Speakers:
Tim Gross, son of liberator George C. Gross
Carrol Walsh, 743rd Tank Battalion
Frank Towers, 30th Infantry Division
Francis Currey, Recipient, Medal of Honor, 30th Infantry Division
Buster Simmons, 30th Infantry Division
William Gast, 743rd Tank Battalion
Robert Miller, author, Finding My Father’s War (son of 30th ID member)
Disc Two: The Holocaust Survivors (144 minutes)
Albany New York Television News Coverage
Speakers: Survivors-
Sara Atzmon (Hungary; Israel)
Fred Spiegel (Germany; Howell, NJ)
Ariela Rojek (Poland; Toronto, Canada)
Leslie Meisels (Hungary; Toronto, Canada)
Paul Arato (Hungary; Toronto, Canada)
Elisabeth Seaman (Netherlands; Palo Alto, California)
Micha Tomkiewicz (Poland; Brooklyn, New York)
Lev Raphael: (son of train survivor) Author, My Germany- “Revisiting Germany”
Speaker: Survivor Steven Barry (Hungary; Boca Raton, Fla.)
Film, A Special Reunion
Student Performance, Miss Kylie James, Hudson Falls Class of 2010 “This Is For Remembrance”
Speaker: Teacher Organizer Matthew Rozell
Supplemental Material: Guidelines for Teaching the Holocaust, USHMM Museum Teacher Fellowship Outreach Project, Matthew Rozell and Sara Kollbaum, 2008
Teaching History Matters 