US Soldier Named ‘Righteous among the Nations’
Jack Kemp
I was inspired me to buy a hard copy Jewish Press and look up a
story seen there about Mary Elmes, an Irish citizen and Righteous Among
the Nations honored in Jerusalem. I found her story about saving Jewish
lives in WWII France (she previously saved refugee lives in the Spanish
Civil War). But Mary Elmes' story is also on the internet at
http://www.irishcentral.com/news/cork-woman-mary-elmes-honored-for-role-in-saving-jewish-children-from-nazis-in-wwii-208053091-237590601
And also found this other story at the Jewish Press website about
another Righteous Among the Nations, U.S. Army Sgt. Roddie Edward. His
son later became a pastor...
http://www.jewishpress.com/news/breaking-news/us-soldier-named-righteous-among-the-nations/2015/12/02/
US Soldier Named ‘Righteous among the Nations’
Master
Sgt. Robbie Edwards, as a POW, told a Nazi officer if he wants to
exterminate Jewish soldiers, he has to murder him and fellow non-Jews.
A
U.S. Army soldier who fought in against the Nazis is now the first
American soldier to be recognized by Yad VaShem as "Righteous among the
Nations†for rescuing Jewish soldiers.
Four other Americans, all of them civilians, have been recognized with the same honor.
The
late Master Sergeant Roddie Edmonds fought in the 422nd Infantry
Regiment and was captured in the Battle of the Bulge. He was sent to
the Stalag POW camp in Germany.
The
Wehrmacht had an anti-Jewish policy, singling out Jewish POWs from the
rest of the POW population, and many Jewish POWs were sent to
extermination camps or murdered.
In
January 1945, the Germans announced that all Jewish POWs in Stalag IXA
were to report the following morning. Edmonds, who was the highest
ranking solider in the American section of the camp ordered all his
men, to fallout the following morning – Jews and non-Jews alike.
When
the German camp commander, Major Siegmann, saw that all the camp’s
inmates were standing in front of their barracks, he turned to Edmonds
and exclaimed: "They cannot all be Jews!â€
Edmonds replied, "We are all Jews.†After Siegmann took out his pistol and threatened Edmonds, the soldier declared:
According
to the Geneva Convention, we only have to give our name, rank and
serial number. If you shoot me, you will have to shoot all of us, and
after the war you will be tried for war crimes.
The Commandant turned around and left the scene.
NCO
Paul Stern, who stood near Edmonds during the exchange and among who was
Netanyahu of those saved by his action, recounted the story to Yad
VaShem
Stern,
who was taken prisoner on December 17, 1944, added, "Although seventy
years have passed, I can still hear the words he said to the German
Camp Commander.â€
Another
Jewish soldier who was witness to the incident is Lester Tanner, who
had trained in Fort Jackson where Master Sergeant Edmonds was
stationed. Tanner recalled:
He
did not throw his rank around. You knew he knew his stuff and he got
across to you without being arrogant or inconsiderate. I admired him
for his command… We were in combat on the front lines for only a short
period, but it was clear that Roddie Edmonds was a man of great courage
who led his men with the same capacity we had come to know him in the
States
I
would estimate that there were more than one thousand Americans
standing in wide formation in front of the barracks with Master
Sergeant Roddie Edmonds standing in front with several senior non-coms
beside him, of which I was one… Edmonds, at the risk of his immediate
death, defied the Germans with the unexpected consequences that the
Jewish prisoners were saved.
Edmonds died in 1985.
Yad
VaShem chairman Avner Shalev said, "Edmonds seemed like an ordinary
American soldier, but he had an extraordinary sense of responsibility
and dedication to his fellow human beings….The choices and actions of
Master Sergeant Edmonds set an example for his fellow American soldiers
as they stood united against the barbaric evil of the Nazis.â€
Edmonds’
son, Pastor Chris Edmonds, is currently in Israel participating in a
seminar sponsored by the International School for Holocaust Studies for
Christian leaders.
Posted by: Timothy Birdnow at
09:12 AM
| No Comments
| Add Comment
Post contains 681 words, total size 8 kb.
26kb generated in CPU 0.1708, elapsed 0.7774 seconds.
35 queries taking 0.7717 seconds, 157 records returned.
Powered by Minx 1.1.6c-pink.