My friend’s dad never spoke to us about his experiences. The neighborhood guys were always in one another’s homes growing up and we all knew that Mr. Klein had survived the concentration camps of World War II. Most of us had seen the tattoo on his arm that all Jews received when first incarcerated.
Later in life, Mr. Klein chose to break the silence. He spoke to school assemblies and other groups in the Chattanooga area. He must have concluded that his story might contribute to confirming history and preventing such atrocities in the future.
The shrinking number of survivors due to age and the descendants of those who experienced ‘the Shoah,’ the Hebrew word used for Holocaust, want the world to remember and be on guard against the evils that target and destroy. Next week, May 5, is Yom HaShoah, the Holocaust Memorial Day. At 10:00 am sirens will sound throughout Israel and everyone will stop and remember. The last time Susan and I were in Israel, we witnessed such a solemn moment. Cars pulled to the side of the road and people got out to stand in reverence during a two-minute period of silence.
As we entered the Holocaust Museum in Washington D. C. a couple of weeks ago, the message of ‘Never Again’ rang loud and clear. The most jolting part of the morning for me was walking on a bridge-like pathway through a room with a distinct smell. On the left and right of the path were thousands and thousands of shoes, the very shoes of those who were murdered in the concentration camps of Europe. As I think of these descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, I think of Paul’s words.
“I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written:
“‘The Deliverer will come from Zion; He will turn godlessness away from Jacob. And this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins.’
“As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies on your account; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, for God’s gifts and His call are irrevocable. Just as you who were at one time disobedient to God have now received mercy as a result of their disobedience, so they too have now become disobedient in order that they too may now receive mercy as a result of God’s mercy to you. For God has bound all men over to disobedience so that He may have mercy on them all.
“Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable His judgments, and His paths beyond tracing out! ‘Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been His counselor?’ ‘Who has ever given to God, that God should repay Him?’ For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever! Amen.” Romans 11:25-36