“We Are All Jews”

Heroes, Heroines and Helpers series features Master Sgt. Roddie Edmonds

By Ida Margolis, GenShoah Chair

Last month, the theme of “Heroes, Heroines and Helpers” was introduced as the program theme for the Holocaust Museum & Cohen Education Center and GenShoah SWFL. In addition to many films, lectures and programs centered around the theme, each month, the GenShoah e-newsletter and the Federation Star will be highlighting an historic hero and asking for nominations of both famous and unsung heroes. We will include stories about people who defend a moral cause, help someone in need, and have performed heroic acts with recognition of possible risks and without the anticipation of external gain.

This month, we are featuring Master Sergeant Roddie Edmonds. Edmonds served in the U.S. Army during World War II. He participated in the landing of the American forces in Europe and was taken prisoner by the Germans. Together, with other American POWs, including Jews, he was taken to Stalag IXA, a camp near Ziegenhain, Germany. There, the Germans singled out Jewish POWs, and many of them on the Eastern Front were sent to extermination camps or killed. In some cases, in the west, Jewish POWs were also separated from the others.

Sometime in January 1945, the Germans announced that all Jewish POWs in Stalag IXA were to report the following morning. Master Sergeant Edmonds, who was in charge of the prisoners, ordered all POWs—Jews and non-Jews alike—to stand together.

When the German officer in charge saw that all the camp’s inmates were standing in front of their barracks, he turned to Edmonds and said, “They cannot all be Jews.”

To this, Edmonds replied, “We are all Jews.”

The German took out his pistol and threatened Edmonds, but the Master Sergeant did not waver. Rather, he responded, “According to the Geneva Convention, we have to give only our name, rank and serial number. If you shoot me, you will have to shoot all of us, and after the war, you will be tried for war crimes.”

The German gave up, turned around, and left the scene. Thanks to Edmonds’s courage, Jewish POWs were saved from this attempt to single them out.

When Edmonds returned home, he never spoke about his wartime experiences or how he had saved the Jewish GIs. Like many of the “Greatest Generation,” he was humble about his war experiences. He told his own family little about his time as a POW. He was never given any recognition by the Army for his courage. He never received a medal or a commendation.

After Edmonds died in 1985, his son, Chris Edmonds, pastor of the Piney Grove Baptist Church in Marysville, Tennessee, began to piece together his father’s story. In 2015, Yad VaShem recognized Roddie Edmonds as a Righteous Among the Nations. Edmonds, clearly, at the risk of his own life, saved Jewish lives and the lives of generations to come. Edmonds was only the fifth American recognized for the special Yad VaShem honor.

On Jan. 27, 2016, a ceremony was held at the Israeli embassy in Washington DC, where Israeli ambassador Ron Dermer and Yad Vashem Council Chairman Rabbi Lau presented the Righteous medal and certificate of honor to Edmund’s son. The ceremony was attended by the President of the United States, Barack Obama. In November, we hope to announce a special program about hero Master Sgt. Roddy Edmonds.

To submit your nomination for the “Heroes, Heroines and Helpers,” please email genshoahSwfl@gmail.com.