WORTHINGTON — “Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people he chose for his inheritance. From heaven the LORD looks down and sees all mankind; from his dwelling place he watches all who live on earth — he who forms the hearts of all, who considers everything they do.” Psalm 33:12-15
“Oh, swell,” I thought to myself, when I considered what passage I should use for this faith column and the above words from Psalm 33 came to mind. Then I saw some photos of prisoners incarcerated at Auschwitz: Abram Cukier, Oser Warszwaski, Ella Gartner, Roza Robota, Regina Safir and Estera Wajsblum; and I just knew that I needed to incorporate both the above scripture passage and the fates of these people in this column, and then let readers allow their own hearts to speak to them about how “appropriate” my words are.
Before I continue, however, I must state that when I was a junior in high school, I was honored to be Worthington’s exchange student in Crailsheim, Germany, from 1966-67. Indeed, it was one of the best years of my life!
I was privileged to have lived with seven different families — some in the city of Crailsheim, others in smaller villages in the surrounding area. As I “lived into” my dream come true, I felt so loved, and I felt the same for all of my host mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers; and yet, as I experienced their kindness, I wondered how the Holocaust ever came to be.
However, I soon became very aware that their hearts were in “the right place” — not filled with disdain or hatred for people who were “not like them.”
I also feel compelled to include this description of the Auschwitz Concentration Camp, taken from the Website Auschwitz Memorial: When we look at Auschwitz we see the end of the process. It’s important to remember that the Holocaust actually did not start from gas chambers. This hatred gradually developed from words, stereotypes and prejudice through legal exclusion, dehumanization and escalating violence.
Please keep these thoughts in mind as I tell you more about Abram and Oser. I learned that Abram was a Polish Jew, born in Warsaw on Oct. 10, 1900. He was a hairdresser by trade. On Feb. 20, 1942 Abram was taken prisoner by the Gestapo and sent to Auschwitz, where he died just one month later, on March 20, 1942.
Oser was a writer, literary critic and painter and lived in Paris, writing about Jewish culture and art. He fled the Germans four times, finally arriving in Rome, where he hid in a prison. Oser was arrested there by the Gestapo on May 17,1944, just a few days before the Allies liberated Rome. He was then deported to Auschwitz where he was murdered on Oct. 10, 1944.
The four female Jewish women, Ella, Roza, Regina and Estera were involved in smuggling explosives that were used by the prisoners during their revolt in Auschwitz on Oct. 7, 1944. The women were hanged on Jan. 6,1945, just four months before the camp was liberated.
So seeing those photos of prisoners at the camp and learning who they were as human beings before they became pawns in the Nazi war machine was a heartwrenching reminder of how galling, vicious and evil Hitler’s actions were in leading the German people into the hell of World War 2 — not all of them, of course — but turning millions of hearts to the darkness that considered those not like them to be vermin, not worthy to live. Yes, it was only after World War II that the Nazis’ plans of total annihilation of the Jews came to light, although there were some leaders who knew, or could guess, what was going on behind the closed doors of the camps. If they did, they looked the other way, fearful that they too would be “disappeared” and join the ranks of those marching to their deaths in the crematoria.
So what does all this have to do with the scripture, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord”?
I see a horrifying parallel with what is happening right now to immigrants in our own country, men, women and children who are being stereotyped and dehumanized, against whom ICE agents have launched violent attacks. The administration’s justification: they are “illegal aliens.”
In other words, they are not white and don’t deserve respect, and those who are helping them should be punished, too.
It is imperative, then, that each one of us must consider how we, as citizens of a nation founded on the truths of “liberty and justice for all,” are abiding by the Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” (Matthew 7:12), and again, the words of Jesus himself, when he said, “Love one another as I have loved you.” (John 15:12)
As people who say that we live by the Golden Rule and Jesus’ directive to “Love one another as I have loved you,” we must look within and see if we are complicit in allowing an administration to label anyone who is not white an illegal alien, and in so doing, using everything in their power to make life miserable for them and those who support them, including resorting to violence to get their way.
I frequently ask myself what’s going on behind those closed doors of the detention centers, dare I say “concentration camps.” We know that evil feeds upon evil, so then, do the guards who are responsible for the “aliens” have their best interests at heart, or are they like the SS guards in the concentration camps who reveled in their ability to inflict pain?
At this time in our nation’s history, we must each ask ourselves if we are citizens of a nation whose God is the Lord — or of an administration in love only with itself and its power.
May God help us to choose to be citizens of the Kingdom of God on earth and work together for justice, guided by hearts filled with compassion, being Christ’s heart, hands and feet on earth.
I conclude this column with statements from my favorite theologian and hero Dietrich Bonhoeffer, taken from his writings:
“Silence in the face of evil is evil itself: God will not hold us guiltless.”
“We are not to simply bandage the wounds of victims beneath the wheels of injustice, we are to drive a spoke into the wheel itself.”
“The ultimate test of a moral society is the kind of world that it leaves its children.”
What kind of world will we leave our children? Will we “pass the test”?
Prayer: God of all, move our hearts to beat with your love at its core, so that when we meet you face to face, you will welcome us with open arms. Amen.