Playing level: Excellent
Violin by Collton, Brooklyn 1884
Master Sergeant Roddie Edmonds
Righteous Among the Nations
Master Sergeant Roddie Edmonds (1919-1985) of Knoxville, Tennessee, served in the 106th Infantry in the U.S. Army during World War II. He was taken prisoner by the Germans at the Battle of the Bulge. Edmonds was held prisoner at Stalag IX-A POW camp near Ziegenhain, Germany. On January 27, 1945, the Germans announced that all Jewish POWs in the camp were to report the following morning. As the highest-ranking non-commissioned officer, he ordered more than 1,292 American captives to fall out with him and fearlessly pronounced, “We are all Jews here.” He would not waver, even with a pistol to his head, to identify any prisoners by religion, preventing over 200 Jewish soldiers from being singled out for Nazi persecution and possible death. The Nazi commander backed down. For his defense of Jewish servicemen at the POW camp, Edmonds, an Evangelical Christian, was recognized as a Righteous Among the Nations, Israel's highest award for non-Jews who risked their own lives to save Jews during the Holocaust. He is only the fifth American to be named Righteous and the first American Soldier. He is also the first of the Righteous to save American Jews. Roddie’s bold actions to protect his Jewish brothers in a Nazi POW camp inspires us all to stand against antisemitism, racism, and hatred of every kind.
