It was a somber event at Surface Warfare Officer School Unit (SWOSU) Great Lakes as Sailors gathered together during the Holocaust Remembrance ceremony, April 26.

Following opening remarks from SWOSU Great Lakes Executive Officer Lt. Cmdr. Andre Cleveland, the remembrance ceremony featured a detailed documentary presentation by SWOSU Great Lakes instructors Hull Maintenance Technician 1st Class Matthew Paris and Gas Turbine System Technician (electrical) 1st Class Raynard Malone, and a candlelight ceremony.

"This day of remembrance is meant to learn the absolute horrible time in human history, and honor the victims of the Holocaust," said Hull Maintenance Technician (HT) 1st Class Loveasia Vann, leading petty officer for HT "A" School at SWOSU Great Lakes. "We must never forget this great atrocity and the evil mankind is capable of, and we must commemorate the strength and resolve of the survivors."

The Holocaust was the deliberate genocide of nearly 6 million European Jews during World War II by the Nazis. Other social and ethnic groups were persecuted and killed also, and the death total was estimated to be between 9 to 11 million.

"Each year, fewer and fewer survivors remain," Cleveland said. "It falls on all of us to carry these memories forward. I find it meaningful that our command is holding a Holocaust remembrance event to ensure that something as devastating as the Holocaust never happens again to people of any faith."

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