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WASHINGTON - In a moving ceremony attended by family and friends, two of UUSC’s founders who left their family, church, and community to help rescue victims of Nazi persecution were memorialized on Thursday at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. The event served as a celebration of the legacy of the late Martha and Waitstill Sharp as well as a call to action for today's "righteous" to challenge the genocide taking place in Darfur.

The Rev. Waitstill Sharp, a Unitarian minister, and his wife Martha, who left their family, church, and community to help rescue victims of Nazi persecution, became only the second and third Americans to be enshrined with a plaque on the museum's Wall of Rescuers. Martha Sharp is the first American woman.

Representatives from UUSC, the Holocaust museum and the U.S. Congress praised the Sharps for their heroism, and said the real significance of their legacy is how it inspires us today to challenge modern-day genocide.

Congress pays tribute to Sharps
"We must also commend the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee as they carry forward the torch of the Sharps with the people of Darfur," said Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, who sponsored a Senate Resolution that was passed last week to pay tribute to Sharps and their legacy.

The Rev. William F. Schulz, chair of UUSC's Board of Trustees, pointed out that the remarkable accomplishments of the Sharps were made possible by a larger circle of friends, colleagues, and institutions.

"Not every one of us can visit the refugee camps of Darfur or the U.S. detention camps in Iraq or Afghanistan or God knows where else." said Schulz. "But every one on us can be a part of the lives of those who do. Every one of us can be part of institutions that make such heroism possible and in that measure can claim a degree of kinship with the righteous among the nations."

Holocaust survivor cites Darfur genocide
Holocaust survivor, Rosemarie Feigl, now 80 and living in New York City, is one of the hundreds of people the Sharps helped to escape Nazi tyranny and settle in the United States. She had planned to speak at the ceremony in Washington, but was advised by her doctor not to travel due to a recent medical problem.

UUSC President Charlie Clements told the guests at the ceremony that Feigl, though unable to travel to Washington, insists on participating in the Rally to Save Darfur on Sunday, September 17 in New York's Central Park. "If the Sharps could do what they did, then I can go to the rally Sunday," he quoted Feigl as saying.

The extraordinary work of the Sharps in rescuing hundreds of Jews and others persecuted by the Nazis led to the founding of what is today the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, which has lived out the couple's legacy for more than 65 years by challenging genocide, including the atrocities happening in Darfur.

"Few people found it within themselves to risk danger by helping their neighbors during the Holocaust," said Sara J. Bloomfield, director of the Holocaust museum. "That the Sharps were willing to leave the safety of the United States to save strangers in Europe speaks to their character, and serves as an inspiration to us today, particularly as we continue to witness atrocities in Darfur and elsewhere."

The resolution passed by the Senate pays tribute to the courageous work of the Sharps, celebrating them as "genuine American heroes." In addition to Reed, the resolution is cosponsored by Sen. Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, and John F. Kerry and Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts. Martha Sharp is a native of Rhode Island and a graduate of Brown University. Waitstill Sharp is a Massachusetts native and a graduate of Harvard University Law School.

"We are proud to celebrate the heroism of the Sharps” said UUSC President Charlie Clements. "Their work continues to inspire us, and we intend to redirect people's attention to the slow genocide in Darfur today. We want to inspire activism by asking: How will our grandchildren celebrate our righteousness in regard to the inhumanity that occurs on our watch."

The recognition by the museum follows a ceremony on June 13 when the Sharps were honored as Righteous Among the Nations by the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Israel. More than 21,000 have been so honored since the memorial was established in 1963, the vast majority from European countries.