lilithu
The Devil's Advocate
This was announced a while ago but I'm not sure it was posted here on RF. It was mentioned again at GA and I get to go to the dedication at the Holocaust Museum here in DC in Sept! 
(Boston, December 6, 2005)
The Unitarian Universalist Service Committee announced today that the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial museum in Israel has designated the late Rev. Waitstill Sharp Martha Sharp Cogan as "Righteous Among the Nations," an honor conferred to individuals who extended aid to rescue Jews during the Holocaust. To date, over 20,000 individuals have been named as "Righteous Among the Nations," but until the Sharps were so designated, the honor had only been bestowed on one American, Varian Fry.
Unitarians and Universalists watched along with the rest of the world as Hitler and fascism took hold in Europe. As the UU Service Committee notes in a piece on its history and founding, "Between l934 and 1938, the Reverends Charles Joy and Robert Dexter (both members of the American Unitarian Association staff) traveled abroad and reported back regularly on conditions among the refugees." Although delegates to the 1933 and 1936 General Assembly of the AUA had passed resolutions decrying the persecution of Jews in Europe by the Nazis, the outcry went unheeded by the US government." In October, 1938, Czechoslovakia fell. American Unitarians, who held close ties to Czech Unitarian congregations and to the Rev. Norbert Capek, were stunned and in December of that year, the Board of Directors of the AUA agreed to a plan for a "service mission to Czechoslovakia."
In February of 1939, Martha Sharp and the Rev. Waitstill Sharp (minister of the Unitarian Universalist Society of Wellesley Hills, MA) sailed for Europe as representatives of the American Unitarian Association on what was described as an 'exploratory visit.' They arrived in Prague as Nazi troops were marching into the city, which held 250,000 refugees. Working independently, Martha interacted primarily with refugees; her persistent efforts enabled many to cross borders safely. Meanwhile Waitstill set up an underground escape route from the city about which little is known to this day.
Largely as a result of the Sharp's courageous efforts, the Unitarian Service Committee was established in May 1940 as a standing committee of the AUA. The nascient organization decided on a mission that would orient it firmly on the side of promoting democracy outside of the United States a controversial decision during a time of US isolationism.
The Sharp's rescue list focused on intellectuals and anti-Nazi political leaders as well as children. In August l940, the Sharps returned to the US from Europe, barely escaping arrest and detention. Later, after the fall of almost all of Europe, they sailed again for Marseilles and then, Lisbon. There, Martha Sharp arranged for 29 children and 10 adults, refugees from Nazi-occupied countries, to set sail for the US. They thus escaped internment under the Vichy French government, which later deported hundreds of thousands to Nazi death camps.
The numbers of people rescued by the Unitarian Service Committee during and after the war years (often in collaboration with other agencies) has been estimated to be between 1,000 and 3,000.
http://www.uua.org/news/2005/051206_YadVashem.html
(Boston, December 6, 2005)
The Unitarian Universalist Service Committee announced today that the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial museum in Israel has designated the late Rev. Waitstill Sharp Martha Sharp Cogan as "Righteous Among the Nations," an honor conferred to individuals who extended aid to rescue Jews during the Holocaust. To date, over 20,000 individuals have been named as "Righteous Among the Nations," but until the Sharps were so designated, the honor had only been bestowed on one American, Varian Fry.
Unitarians and Universalists watched along with the rest of the world as Hitler and fascism took hold in Europe. As the UU Service Committee notes in a piece on its history and founding, "Between l934 and 1938, the Reverends Charles Joy and Robert Dexter (both members of the American Unitarian Association staff) traveled abroad and reported back regularly on conditions among the refugees." Although delegates to the 1933 and 1936 General Assembly of the AUA had passed resolutions decrying the persecution of Jews in Europe by the Nazis, the outcry went unheeded by the US government." In October, 1938, Czechoslovakia fell. American Unitarians, who held close ties to Czech Unitarian congregations and to the Rev. Norbert Capek, were stunned and in December of that year, the Board of Directors of the AUA agreed to a plan for a "service mission to Czechoslovakia."
In February of 1939, Martha Sharp and the Rev. Waitstill Sharp (minister of the Unitarian Universalist Society of Wellesley Hills, MA) sailed for Europe as representatives of the American Unitarian Association on what was described as an 'exploratory visit.' They arrived in Prague as Nazi troops were marching into the city, which held 250,000 refugees. Working independently, Martha interacted primarily with refugees; her persistent efforts enabled many to cross borders safely. Meanwhile Waitstill set up an underground escape route from the city about which little is known to this day.
Largely as a result of the Sharp's courageous efforts, the Unitarian Service Committee was established in May 1940 as a standing committee of the AUA. The nascient organization decided on a mission that would orient it firmly on the side of promoting democracy outside of the United States a controversial decision during a time of US isolationism.
The Sharp's rescue list focused on intellectuals and anti-Nazi political leaders as well as children. In August l940, the Sharps returned to the US from Europe, barely escaping arrest and detention. Later, after the fall of almost all of Europe, they sailed again for Marseilles and then, Lisbon. There, Martha Sharp arranged for 29 children and 10 adults, refugees from Nazi-occupied countries, to set sail for the US. They thus escaped internment under the Vichy French government, which later deported hundreds of thousands to Nazi death camps.
The numbers of people rescued by the Unitarian Service Committee during and after the war years (often in collaboration with other agencies) has been estimated to be between 1,000 and 3,000.
http://www.uua.org/news/2005/051206_YadVashem.html
