On 27 January 1945, Auschwitz was liberated by the 322nd Rifle Division of the Red Army during the Vistula–Oder Offensive. Even though the majority of the prisoners had been forced onto a death march, about 7,000 had been left behind.
The Soviet soldiers were shocked by what they saw. The date is recognized as International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Rather then going into the details of that day, because so much has already been written about it, I just want to offer just a few reflective words in a poem titled “We all say Amen”
We all say Amen.
We all have the same colour blood.
We all have the same organs.
We all wear the same clothes.
We all eat when we are hungry.
We all drink when we are thirsty.
We all cry when we are sad.
We all laugh when we hear a joke.
We all pray to the same God, although perhaps in a different way.
We all love in the same way, but maybe in another configuration.
We all say Amen.
Yet it is these few differences you chose to single us out.
We were Jews, Jehovah Witness, Gay, Roma, Disabled or just not in agreement with you.
We all say Amen
Instead of embracing these differences that make us unique, you chose indifference .
Instead of Love, you chose hate and ignorance.
Instead of joy, you chose bitterness and fear.
You wanted everyone to be the same. Have just one identity.
An identity only so relatively few could identify with.
May 4 is the designated day in the Netherlands to remember all those who died in WWII and other conflicts.
At 8PM , 2 minutes of silence will be observed across the country. A few yeas ago I saw a picture that really touched me , It was of a pizza delivery boy getting of his bike at 8 and stopped 2 minutes to remember the dead. It still brings tears to me eyes today, not out of sadness but out of joy. It is good to know that the younger generations still know the value of respect. Especially for those who died for them as they did for me.
So many have died, in concentration camps, in battle in Europe and in the pacific, resistance fighters there are just too many to name. It is a task impossible for any one person to do.
I will remember all those millions who died during WWII. They died because of some evil men wanted their ideologies spread all over the world. I say ideologies but they were really idiocrasies.
I will remember them via a few names of brave men who are buried in ‘The Netherlands American Cemetery’ in Margraten.
10,022 names are connected to the cemetery. 8301 who are buried there, the other names are of those who are remembered and whose bodies weren’t found or were returned home. There is one name there that is special to me, Pierre de Klein, my dad. He did not die in WWII, he died in 2015 but he always had wanted to be a professional soldier. He did fulfill his military service, but his mother discouraged him of becoming a full time soldier like his Father before him, his Father was killed in WWII when my dad was only 5. The management of The Netherlands American Cemetery were so kind to allow his to scatter my Father’s ashes at the Cemetery making his remains to be 8302.
Remembering.
Aldy Willie D. Technician Fourth Grade 34139177 U.S. Army World War II Netherlands American Cemetery Mississippi 10th Tank Battalion, 5th Armored Division.
Alston Tullos Private 38416283 U.S. Army World War II Netherlands American Cemetery Texas 2nd Quartermaster Battalion
Zuidema John A. Technical Sergeant 36704981 U.S. Army World War II Netherlands American Cemetery Illinois 120th Infantry Regiment, 30th Infantry Division
Youngblood Eugene P. Corporal 35600074 U.S. Army Air Forces World War II Netherlands American Cemetery Ohio 316th Fighter Control Squadron
Wright Richard D. Second Lieutenant O-808209 U.S. Army Air Forces World War II Netherlands American Cemetery Massachusetts 367th Bomber Squadron, 306th Bomber Group, Heavy
Wright Richard J. Second Lieutenant O2060633 U.S. Army Air Forces World War II Netherlands American Cemetery Michigan 78th Squadron, 435th Troop Carrier Group
Winters Clinton First Lieutenant O-751514 U.S. Army Air Forces World War II Netherlands American Cemetery Missouri 506th Fighter Squadron, 404th Fighter Group
Winton Merbell C. Technician Fifth Grade 12034147 U.S. Army World War II Netherlands American Cemetery New Jersey 309th Infantry Regiment, 78th Infantry Division
Winzey Patrick M. Staff Sergeant 32983248 U.S. Army Air Forces World War II Netherlands American Cemetery New York 615th Bomber Squadron, 401st Bomber Group, Heavy
Alexander George S. Second Lieutenant O-869037 U.S. Army Air Forces World War II Netherlands American Cemetery Texas 714th Bomber Squadron, 448th Bomber Group, Heavy
Alexander Harry N. First Lieutenant O-767721 U.S. Army Air Forces World War II Netherlands American Cemetery California 566th Bomber Squadron, 389th Bomber Group, Heavy
They gave their today for our tomorrow.
Our tomorrow was sacred to them.
They gave their today for our tomorrow..
Sacrificing their own lives for those they would never meet.
They gave their today for our tomorrow..
A tomorrow which we should cherish even more.
They gave their today for our tomorrow.
Their bravery should forever be remembered and ingrained in our hearts.
They gave their today for our tomorrow.
To those who gave their today for my tomorrow, I bow humbly and respectfully and hope I was worth your sacrifice.
History of Sorts 
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