August 9, 2012

(JTA) — A Star of David stylized piece of sculpture was inaugurated by Brazil’s Defense Minister Celso Amorim at the Monument to the Brazilian soldiers of World War II in Flamengo Park in Rio de Janeiro.

The sculpture was unveiled Aug. 5 with the help of the Jewish Confederation of Brazil and the Jewish Federation of Rio de Janeiro as a tribute to the Jewish community of Brazilian soldiers in the fight against Nazi fascism.  

“I remember as a teenager, my confusion to understand that moment in history,” Amorim said at the event, referring to the Holocaust, according to a news release. “Barbarism and violence which even today defy human comprehension.”

The Star of David sculpture alludes to Brazil’s entry into World War II in August 1942. The sculpture bears the inscription: “Seventy years ago precious lives were lost in the Brazilian coast, because of the perverse action of an ideology unacceptable to humanity. The sea received and led them to the arms of the Creator, opening the way for brave soldiers fighting for the honor of the fatherland and in defense of human dignity.”

Officials attending the event received the book “Soldiers Who Came From Afar,”which tells the story of Brazilian Jews in the military in World War II.

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