Political Quotes

“I am honored to be able to take this opportunity to commemorate the more than 8 million people, 6 million of whom were Jewish, who a little more than half a century ago were brutally, deliberately and systematically exterminated in a state-sponsored effort to annihilate their religious, cultural, and ethnic existence. All across the United States, Americans are commemorating Remembrance Day for those who were exterminated in the death camps of Nazi Germany. I unite with those from around the country, including my constituents of the Jewish Federation of Greater Rockford, IL, to recognize those who risked their lives and those who died trying to intervene and save those who were targets of systematic extermination. The Jewish Federation of Greater Rockford is commemorating Remembrance Day by paying tribute to the 'Righteous Gentiles,' those non-Jews who risked death to help save the lives of Jews and others from Hitler's killing machine. These courageous people acted out of a conviction that they simply could not stand by and witness so great a crime perpetrated against fellow human beings. We are privileged to have one of those surviving Righteous Gentiles, Irene Opdyke, addressing the Jewish Federation of Greater Rockford, IL.”