Holocaust Remembrance Day Featured Historian Stephen Feinberg at one of Fort Wayne's Temples

"Remember - lest we forget, and from this we learned nothing." This phrase was the title of the talk given by Stephen Feinberg, a former employee of the U. S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. He has been a history teacher, author of books about the Holocaust, and is a Jewish history education expert. He spoke recently at the Fort Wayne temple on Old Mill Road as part of a public service for Holocaust Remembrance Day.

37 years ago, Congress unanimously passed a bill proclaiming April 24 as a day of national remembrance of the Holocaust, which claimed the lives of six million European Jews and others at the hands of Nazi Germany. The temple on Old Mill Road, in a beautiful neighborhood near Foster Park on Fort Wayne's south side, is home to the Congregation Achduth Vesholom. In the literature provided, it is stated this congregation is Indiana's oldest of such, first established in 1848.

Mr. Feinberg proved to be a vibrant and sensitive speaker, providing detailed information with nuance and finding relevant context to the present time. One of his themes of focus was technology: how uses of such can be for bad, as well as good, purposes. He said, for example, that the invention and then use of punch cards in the early 1900's allowed not only the United States to streamline its census process, but also for Nazi bureaucrats to swiftly identify Jews by their reported religion and country of origin.

His story wove together a confluence, a perfect storm (although I would rather say a very imperfect storm) of congruent events which led to the rise of Nazism and the subsequent murder of millions of people. Feinberg said of course, not only Jews were murdered, but first mentally and physically disabled Germans themselves, in concentration camp gas chambers. Some were simply starved or shot instead. Other groups deemed unworthy, including homosexuals, gypsies, and people of "undesirable" nations, were also singled out for death.

Mr. Feinberg spoke about factors such as a long-term history of anti-semitism in Europe, and the growth of nationalism, militarism, and industrialism, as contributing to how these atrocities came together. Unemployment and the collapse of the stock market and German currency, all led to Hitler's rise under this disillusionment by German citizens. Between 1933 - 1943, Jews and others were deprived of their rights, Czechoslovakia and Poland were invaded, and World War II started. Mass factory-style murders were conducted in killing centers, but Allied Forces finally defeated German (and Japanese) forces, and camps were liberated by the end of the war in 1945.

It was heartening to see the participation by student groups at this public event of recognition and remembrance. Classes from West Noble Middle School, Wayne New Tech High School, and New Haven High School all had art and research projects on display at the reception following. Some of these can be seen in the photos above.

The music group Heartland Sings performed songs from the Holocaust Cantana, and also music featured in the film Schindler's List. Poignant, piercing music rose from a cellist and a soprano soloist, who made her voice soar in the synagogue. Other local luminaries including Deputy Mayor Karl Bandemer contributed to the program, as did Dr. Patricia Rodda from the IPFW Institue for Holocaust and Genocide Studies.

A new center for Jewish culture and history will be opened at the site, in conjunction with the Jewish Federation of Fort Wayne, the temple itself, and other partners. A grand opening for the new Madge Rothschild Resource Center will be held Sunday, April 30, beginning at 2 p.m. The center will house a library available to the public, a memorial museum, and meeting space. Philanthropist Rothschild was the last direct descendant, a great-grandchild, of one of the families who founded the synagogue in 1848.

What impressed me, or what was reinforced, was a lesson in how important it is at times to not stand back and be silent. It's applicable today in everything from national politics and corporate whistle-blowing, to schoolyard and Internet bullying. One of the last quotes shared at the gathering was one by the genius Allbert Einstein. He said, "the world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it."

Redbud Trees are One of the Best Spring Gifts in Indiana

At this time in April, I see the sight I have been long awaiting: the tiniest glint of pink, glowing from the dark-barked trees. The glow and glory increases a little each day until by now, the redbuds radiate their soft colors - sometimes more pink or purple, sometimes more rosy, magenta, or garnet.

Redbuds are different from other ornamental trees. Lovely fruit trees, or dwarf flowering trees and bushes, are often pruned and given symmetrical shapes. There's nothing wrong with that. But the often short, twisted trunks, and spreading branches of the redbuds have so much character and individuality. They are often hiding on the edge of wooded areas, or taking advantage of the shade underneath a large fir or spruce. They grace the creek beds and river edges in my area.

If you were to pick a route in northern Allen County this time of year, you would see a lot of them. St. Joe Road driving north out of Fort Wayne would be a good way to go to spy some. I also see many along North Clinton Street between Leo and Fort Wayne, and along Tonkel Road, especially near the creeks and streams.

Only Oklahoma claims the redbud to be its state tree. That's ok - I might claim it to be my personal tree mascot. The dark bark starts smooth, then as the tree gets older the bark may get scaly and ridged: even zigzag. I think they grow slowly, but tree literature describes the growth pattern as medium. Redbuds usually only grow to be 20-30 feet tall, and have a 30-foot spread at the crown on a large tree.

A ten-year-old tree might be sixteen feet tall. After flowering, simple leaves come out heart-shaped. They begin green and turn yellow in the fall. Pods, brown pea pods, erupt in August or so, and some birds eat them, or eat bugs they find on the bark. Sometimes the red flowers even pop out on the trunks or stems of the tree. Regular bees aren't able to pollenate redbuds, but carpenter bees and blueberry bees do.

I find these trees fascinating. Their trunks often divide close to the ground. The crowns may be funnel shaped or are often flat-topped. Something I read reported they are a tree of the pea family, which makes sense considering their long brown seed pods. George Washington wrote in his diary about transplanting seedlings into his garden from nearby forests. It makes me feel good to know our first President thought so highly of them.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt loved the trees also: he planted them both at his "little White House" in Warm Springs, Georgia, and at his estate in Hyde Park, New York. Cercis canadensis (redbuds' Latin name) doesn't grow west of Kansas: it needs the precipitation of the East and Midwestern U.S. I will gaze and gaze, finding a wonderful sight to treasure, linger upon and absorb in our flighty, distracted world. Nature such as this is so beautiful, and can bring us so much joy and gratitude. Some treasures are just out there, waiting to be enjoyed.