JOINT BASE CHARLESTON, S.C. –
The United States Congress established the Days of Remembrance as the nation's annual commemoration of the Holocaust. Each year state and local governments, military bases, workplaces, schools, religious organizations and civic center's host observances and remembrance activities for their communities. These events typically occur during the Week of Remembrance, which runs from the Sunday before Holocaust Remembrance Day (Yom HaShoah) through the following Sunday (12-19 April).
Joint Base Charleston will participate in the Days of Remembrance by hosting events throughout the week. On April 12, 2015 volunteers will place 1,000 multicolored pinwheels on the high ground in the open grass area on the corner of Hill and O'Neil Blvd. Each pinwheel represents 6,000 people that lost their life during the Holocaust. This silent memorial will remain in place during the week.
On April 16, 2015 volunteers will handout 1,000 Days of Remembrance cards along with a white paperclip, to drivers entering the Air Base installation. The front of the card reads, "A class of 8th graders in Whitwell, Tennessee, collected paper clips symbolizing the overwhelming number of murders during the holocaust. The objective was to collect six million paper clips equaling the estimated number of people slain between 1939 and 1945. The class received more than 24 million paperclips from around the world. Tolerance is as simple as a paper clip. This venture taught that even simple things have a substantial influence." On the back, the card reads, "This card is one of 1000 to be handed out today. Each card represents 6,000 people who lost their lives in the Holocaust. Six million lives: Let Us Never Forget."
2015 marks the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, the end of World War II and the founding of the United Nations. We salute the strength of the millions of people affected by this tragedy and pay tribute to their lives which have deeply enriched the fabric of the United States of America.