Tribute to the heroes of the Warsaw ghetto uprising was paid today by President Truman in a message on the occasion of the presentation of a Belgian Government award “to an unknown Jewish soldier.” The ceremony also marled the first anniversary of the dedication of the site of the American Memorial to Six Million Jews of Europe slain by the Nazis.
The formal ceremony, held on the steps of city Hall here, was addressed by Mayor William O’Dwyer and Eliahu Epstein, Israeli representative to the United States. The Belgian Consul General, Jacques de Thier, presented the sward on behalf of his government. President Truman’s message read as follows:
“I join with those who are honoring ‘an Unknown Jewish Soldier’ with deep appreciation of the meaning of his sacrifice. The Jews of Europe died because they were engulfed by an evil so monstrous that the decent people of the world disbelieved the truth until it was thrust upon them. The Unknown Jewish Soldier and the six million Jews whose sacrifice he symbolizes merit all the awards the nations of the earth can bestow No award we can Betsey, however, can match their legacy to us-The memory of men who so loved freedom that they died because they would not surrender.”
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