By Balmina Sehra
USAG Stuttgart Public Affairs
A solemn saxophone melody from the theme of “Schindler’s List” is all that can be heard during a sunset ceremony at the Stuttgart Army Airfield.
On April 14, the U.S. Stuttgart Garrison community and local residents, came together for Yom HaShoah Officially known as Israel’s Holocaust and Heroism Remembrance Day, the day commemorates the 6 million Jews murdered in the Holocaust. Locally, an annual gathering just off a busy highway near Stuttgart’s international airport recognizes prisoners brought to the airfield and serves as a yearly reminder of the horrific conditions these prisoners endured.
From late 1944 to early 1945, 600 prisoners were housed at the former site known as Echterdingen Camp. At least 119 of them died during that time, though some reports claim many more died. The prisoners were brought to the airfield to help repair damages to the runway and other facilities from Allied bombing.
In the aftermath of World War II, it was difficult for the Allies to find solid information about the disposition of those who died in concentration camps and similar facilities. At the Stuttgart airfield site, it is known that 19 dead were cremated, and a mass grave of 66 was discovered in 1945. Most recently in 2005 another mass grave, this one with 34 bodies, was discovered by workers excavating for a construction project.
“Today, we honor the memory of those who suffered the inhumanity of the camps, ensuring such atrocities are never repeated,” Filderstadt’s Lord Mayor Christoph Traub said. “Only through our collective remembrance can we safeguard the future and uphold the truth that human dignity is sacred.”
Local rabbis led prayers at the gravesite before leading participants to place small white stones, each carved with the names of the deceased in Hebrew, on top of the headstones. Placing stones on a headstone is a sign of remembrance in Jewish tradition.
The ceremony then moved to a memorial built in 2010, just outside the airfield entrance. It features a sound installation that continuously recites the names of the 600 prisoners of Echterdingen Camp.
Mihail Rubinstein, a board member of the Israelitische Religionsgemeinschaft Württemberg (Israelite Religious Community Württemberg) explained that Yom HaShoah has been commemorated in Israel since 1951 but urged attendees to understand that remembrance alone does not prevent a repeat occurrence.
“Nothing is more dangerous than just living in the present without ever looking at lessons the past has taught us,” Rubinstein said.
The names of the camp workers found at the site echoed in the distance throughout the ceremony reminding listeners of the human beings behind the numbers.
“This memorial stands as testament of the millions of lives that were taken during the Holocaust, reminding us of the depths of human cruelty, but also of the power of courage and endurance of those who stood against it,” USAG Stuttgart Family Life Chaplain (Maj.) Karl Redelsheimer said. “Remembering is an act of courage, to name the horror and to not let the darkness of hate shadow the light of human beings.”
As the ceremony ends, Rubinstein’s words still fill the air.
“They [camp workers] died without dignity, worked to death only days before they were supposed to be freed,” Rubinstein said. “But after finding their remains 20 years ago, we have finally been able to lay them to rest with dignity, the way they deserved.”
USAG Stuttgart Public Affairs archive records contributed to this reporting.