Esther Schiff, a Jewish Survivor of the Holocaust, had the honor of personally thanking four World War II Vets under a stary sky on the Mississippi River. The event was Festival of Praise in Davenport, Iowa where Christian artists Mercy Me drew a crowd of over 5,000 people.
Before the band started, Esther brought the crowd to their feet for a standing ovation. She stood before the crowd as I read her testimony of facing day to day threats of being discovered Jewish in Nazi Germany during the war. A Polish girl, Esther was taken as farm slave labor into Germany and passed herself off as a Christian to preserve her life.
Her own words:
"I thought the war would last forever but my liberation was heralded by the sudden appearance of "all those nice looking American soldiers". With the end of the war, I was able to stop pretending so I dropped my assumed name and became myself again. I was contacted by my American relatives who brought me to the United States in late 1946. I was in the United States only eight months before I married one of those handsome soldiers, Saul Schiff, who had just been discharged from the U.S. Army. We came to the Quad Cities when Saul's work as an engineer brought him to the Rock Island Arsenal."
Christian Artist Dennis Wilson sang his song HERO TO ME while Esther lovingly gave hero medals to each of the local prison camp liberators and eyewitnesses to the Holocaust. Dennis's friend Mary Jean Eisenhower (granddaughter to Dwight D. Eisenhower) wrote a letter to those involved in the ceremony:
"Dear Survivors, Protectors and Witnesses,
You are all my heroes, you are magnanimous.
When my grandfather toured the liberated death camps, he was so appalled and shocked that he called the press, the local people who said they didn't know what was going on, and made them come and see what had been happening. My father, who was his aid during the war, took pictures, as many as possible because my grandfather found it so unbelievable.
One thing I knew firsthand about Eisenhower was he couldn't stand injustice and he couldn't stand to see people suffer. It was this passion that drove him during the academics of the war, and the one that compelled him to visit the camps.
His farewell speech to the Nation on January 17, 1961 included this last paragraph (this lesser known part of the speech says it all):
"We pray that peoples of all faiths, all races, all nations, may have their great human needs satisfied; that those now denied opportunity shall come to enjoy it to the full; that all who yearn for freedom may experience its spiritual blessings; that those who have freedom will understand, also, its heavy responsibilities; that all who are insensitive to the needs of others will learn charity; that the scourges of poverty, disease and ignorance will be made to disappear from the earth, and that, in the goodness of time, all peoples will come to live tgether in a peace guaranteed by the binding force of mutual respect and love."
Tonight I would like to express my own heartfelt gratitude to all of you. Not only for what you have done to save the world, to squash the evil of tyranny, but also for the example you taught the next generations; that of bravery, decency, respect and love. Thank you for being the answer to my grandfather's impassionted prayer.
Sincerely,
Mary Jean Eisenhower
President and CEO
People to People International
(Granddaughter of President Dwight D. Eisenhower)
It was a night to remember! Esther was so excited when it was all over because she had publically thanked "the boys". Her own husband, Saul Schiff, was a Jewish American Soldier and eyewitness to the Holocaust. He shared with me what it was like to see the atrocities of the Jewish people being a Jewish soldier. He is an eyewitness to the horrors of Dachau.
Thousands of people stood in awe as she gave each soldier his medal ... a few minutes later Mercy Me's hit song "I Can Only Imagine" filled the park. I can only imagine the reunion in heaven for the brave men of WWII. They faced so much fear and so much horror - all for us. Freedom isn't free.
Blessings,
Deb
Before the band started, Esther brought the crowd to their feet for a standing ovation. She stood before the crowd as I read her testimony of facing day to day threats of being discovered Jewish in Nazi Germany during the war. A Polish girl, Esther was taken as farm slave labor into Germany and passed herself off as a Christian to preserve her life.
Her own words:
"I thought the war would last forever but my liberation was heralded by the sudden appearance of "all those nice looking American soldiers". With the end of the war, I was able to stop pretending so I dropped my assumed name and became myself again. I was contacted by my American relatives who brought me to the United States in late 1946. I was in the United States only eight months before I married one of those handsome soldiers, Saul Schiff, who had just been discharged from the U.S. Army. We came to the Quad Cities when Saul's work as an engineer brought him to the Rock Island Arsenal."
Christian Artist Dennis Wilson sang his song HERO TO ME while Esther lovingly gave hero medals to each of the local prison camp liberators and eyewitnesses to the Holocaust. Dennis's friend Mary Jean Eisenhower (granddaughter to Dwight D. Eisenhower) wrote a letter to those involved in the ceremony:
"Dear Survivors, Protectors and Witnesses,
You are all my heroes, you are magnanimous.
When my grandfather toured the liberated death camps, he was so appalled and shocked that he called the press, the local people who said they didn't know what was going on, and made them come and see what had been happening. My father, who was his aid during the war, took pictures, as many as possible because my grandfather found it so unbelievable.
One thing I knew firsthand about Eisenhower was he couldn't stand injustice and he couldn't stand to see people suffer. It was this passion that drove him during the academics of the war, and the one that compelled him to visit the camps.
His farewell speech to the Nation on January 17, 1961 included this last paragraph (this lesser known part of the speech says it all):
"We pray that peoples of all faiths, all races, all nations, may have their great human needs satisfied; that those now denied opportunity shall come to enjoy it to the full; that all who yearn for freedom may experience its spiritual blessings; that those who have freedom will understand, also, its heavy responsibilities; that all who are insensitive to the needs of others will learn charity; that the scourges of poverty, disease and ignorance will be made to disappear from the earth, and that, in the goodness of time, all peoples will come to live tgether in a peace guaranteed by the binding force of mutual respect and love."
Tonight I would like to express my own heartfelt gratitude to all of you. Not only for what you have done to save the world, to squash the evil of tyranny, but also for the example you taught the next generations; that of bravery, decency, respect and love. Thank you for being the answer to my grandfather's impassionted prayer.
Sincerely,
Mary Jean Eisenhower
President and CEO
People to People International
(Granddaughter of President Dwight D. Eisenhower)
It was a night to remember! Esther was so excited when it was all over because she had publically thanked "the boys". Her own husband, Saul Schiff, was a Jewish American Soldier and eyewitness to the Holocaust. He shared with me what it was like to see the atrocities of the Jewish people being a Jewish soldier. He is an eyewitness to the horrors of Dachau.
Thousands of people stood in awe as she gave each soldier his medal ... a few minutes later Mercy Me's hit song "I Can Only Imagine" filled the park. I can only imagine the reunion in heaven for the brave men of WWII. They faced so much fear and so much horror - all for us. Freedom isn't free.
Blessings,
Deb
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