Martha and Waitstill Sharp honored as "Righteous Among the Nations" at Wellesley UU Church

UUSC President Charlie Clements; Rosemary Fiegl (who survived the Holocaust thanks to the work of Waitstill and Martha Sharp); and Bill Sinkford at the ceremony honoring the naming of the Sharps as Righteous Among the Nations.

Bill Sinkford and Artemis Joukowsky III (grandson of Waitstill and Martha Sharp).

(December 12, 2005) The Rev. William G. Sinkford and the Rev. William F. Schulz were among those speaking at a ceremony honoring the legacy of Waitstill and Martha Sharp as Righteous Among the Nations at a ceremony held December 11, 2005, at the Unitarian Universalist Society of Wellesley Hills, MA.

The Rev. Phyllis O'Connell, minister of the congregation, greeted the audience of approximately 200. Her remarks were followed by those of Dr. Charlie Clements, President/CEO of the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, which sponsored the event.

Rev. Sinkford, who spoke next on the program reminded the audience that genocide continues today as in the days when the Sharps were active doing rescue work in Europe. Sinkford said, "Just as there was genocide when the sharps traveled to Europe, there is genocide today. War and militarization are going on... and it is our nation which seems to be most free in the use of those tactics, rather than opposing them. So many things have not changed since the Sharps' ministry in the world. But beyond the ministry that we celebrate in this service, the question for UUs is how we will respond today to those things that have not changed. Will we experience a call as a faith community, and if we experience that call will we be able to find the health and depth to respond. Our response to that calling, to that world, is part of our spiritual life. For me a spiritual life includes a personal journey and an engagement with the world. Either alone is incomplete. Our faith knows deeply that these are the only hands on earth, the only hands that can move our world toward the beloved community we shared. But the question remains, will we answer the call?"

The Rev. Sinkford's remarks were followed by those of Artemis Joukowsky III, one of Waitstill and Martha Sharp's grandsons, who observed that the Sharps "would be embarrassed and inside, very happy, not just for this acknowledgement of their work, but for the outpouring of this community for work which needs to be done now. Their biggest commitment was to do this work without others giving them credit."

Following Joukowsky was Rosemary Feigl, a Holocaust survivor who was assisted to freedom by Martha Sharp. Ms. Fiegl, who was born on July 2, 1926, in Vienna, spoke of her parents' efforts to find safe haven during the war. Traveling to Italy and France, she said, "We ended up in Marseille in the summer of 1939 trying to get a visa to the US. I went to school there and learned French. My father tried to do various jobs to get us money to live... my mother did sewing. My father was interned twice... war had broken out, we were considered enemy aliens. The Nazis put us on a train that shuttled back and forth between two cities while they decided what to do with us."

She continued, "My parents were desperate to get out of France. My father went from consulate to consulate, trying to get travel documents to get to the US. This is how he met the Sharps. Mrs. Sharp was trying to get children to the US. I had no idea how hard she had worked to get permission for us to travel. She worked with the Vichy authorities to get exit visas for 29 children... some of them Jewish. I was one of those lucky children. She escorted us to Lisbon on Nov. 26, 1940. We arrived in New York on Dec. 23, 1940. Mrs. Sharp met us at the dock, and my parents were able to come to the US a year and a half later, with her help. The USC [Unitarian Service Committee, predecessor organization of the UU Service Committee] paid for all our travel and sponsored us in the US.

"I knew as a child her motivations were purely humane... she didn't do it for money and for any specific reason, just to be a good human being. Mrs. Sharp could have said it wasn't her problem. Till war broke out she was safe in America, but she chose to risk her life for strangers. I am proud my testimony helped the Sharps become righteous among the nations, because I know that Mrs. Sharp's actions helped us to not be killed. I stand before you as one of the children who she helped rescue. I am glad I have lived life as an American. In a few days, I will be 65 years in this country. God bless you."

Additional remarks followed from Atema Eclai, Director of Programs for the UUSC and from Dr. Martin Sleeper, associate executive director of "Facing History and Ourselves," a Massachusetts-based organization that focuses on the intersection of history and human behavior.

Keynote addresses were offered by Nancy K. Kaufman, executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council and a co-founder of the Massachusetts chapter of the Save Darfur Coalition and by the Rev. Dr. William F. Schulz, former UUA President and current executive director, Amnesty International USA.

In his remarks Dr. Schulz asked, "How many of us would set out from our comfortable homes, leaving our small children behind, to match wits with the Gestapo and lead journeys across the Pyrenees ? If even one person in a generation makes a moral choice, it means that the rest of us have no excuse for our moral torpidity... Not every one of us can set out for war-torn Europe or visit the refugees in Darfur. But every one of us can be a part of the lives of those who do, and can claim a degree of kinship with the righteous among the nations.

"Sometimes, in order to do justice and give mercy, God requires a reminder. Sometimes in order to do justice and love mercy, someone must be a pest, a nudnik, and remind God of his own laws. Martha and Waitstill Sharp were nudniks extraordinare, who not only pestered God, but gave pain... we bless them for bequeathing to us a vehicle – the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee – by which we might hold God to account."

Rabbi Sharon Clevenger of Temple Beth Elohim in Wellesley offered the benediction.

Photos and reporting by Deborah Weiner

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