Jewish War Veterans Educate Boy Scouts About the Holocaust & WWII

On Tuesday, Nov. 7, the Boy Scouts of Troop 147, chartered to Northampton Presbyterian Church in Holland, PA, began their meeting as they do each Tuesday night with a flag ceremony and reciting of the Pledge of Allegiance and Scout Law. However, the rest of their meeting on this evening was quite different from usual as they took part in an educational presentation about the Holocaust that was given by Jewish War Veterans of the U.S.A., Fegelson – Young – Feinberg Post 697.

Following a bugle playing of taps to begin the program, Allan Silverberg, Committee Chairman Holocaust Remembrance Education Program, began the interactive presentation by teaching the Scouts about Hitler’s initiative in Nazi Germany and Europe during World War II. This was followed by a discussion about the importance of and need for diversity and tolerance in each society. Messages that could not be more timely considering the divisiveness seen across the U.S. that makes headlines each day.

The Scouts also heard from Daniel Goldsmith who shared his incredible story of growing up in Belgium in the 1930s and seeing the Nazi invasion of that country. Forced to go into hiding and then flee their home following a raid by the Nazi forces, Mr. Goldsmith shared his memories of being separated from his parents and baby sister but ultimately surviving the Holocaust due to the help of Catholic institutions and a series of righteous people who were willing to help. His experiences included escaping from a freight train that was taking him and other young boys to a concentration camp. Following liberation of the town where he was hiding, he was able to reunite with his mother and sister. However, the joy of those reunions was overshadowed by learning that his beloved father had died in the Auschwitz concentration camp.

The living history lesson about the terribly frightening years of the Holocaust and World War II had a strong impact on all the Scouts and parents in attendance. Hearing first-hand accounts of events and things that are generally only read about in history books brought a much greater sense of awareness of what happened and why it is so important to never let anything like it happen again.

Getting back to the normal flow of a Boy Scout meeting, the evening concluded with the troop reciting the Scout Oath, which speaks to duty to God and country, to other people, and to one’s self. All very fitting messages on this particular night.

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Troop 147 will be participating in the Veteran’s Day ceremonies on Saturday, Nov. 11 at Washington Crossing National Cemetery in Newtown, PA.