Horrible. This is the only word I could utter after having spent the morning combing the halls of the Holocaust Memorial in Israel. Image after image, each one painting a picture of the horror of human hate. I worked very hard not to let the images sink in, at least at first. Then I turned the corner and was face to face with the photograph that broke down my resolve not to cry. It was a print of a woman clinging to her child with her back to her soon to be executioner. The muzzle of the rifle was trained on the neck of the mom, her body tense expecting the blow but still shielding the child from the gruesome sight. The image was recorded just moments before the shot. How horrible to be put in a position of desiring to protect your child and at the same time being helpless against your attacker. It was in the moments of weeping before this print I thought of something that had not occurred to me. Who took the picture?
Who would want a picture of such a nightmarish sight? Why at that moment did he squeeze the shutter open? Was it by accident? Did he really want an image of the bullet piercing the mother and her son, and through mistaken timing had recorded an image milliseconds earlier than intended? Was this to be a trophy for the killer? Was this print circulated around the barracks and laughed at by spineless weak minded murders? The intended reason for the image may never be known but its affect on me is something I will never forget.
In my moment of anguish as I empathized with this mom I was interrupted by a plump red faced woman who blurted out “This is more than I can take, let’s go eat.” I couldn’t believe my ears. Lets go eat? That’s all she had to say about this memorial? This monument represents six million lives that were stripped of dignity, starved of the basics of humanity, and murdered. I guess a representation of such great sacrifice isn’t enough to keep the attention of the complacent millions whose number one is themselves. I almost asked God to let her choke on her “much needed” lunch but asked for forgiveness instead.
There is no happy ending to this story. I left the memorial, dejected, hurt and angry. That day I didn’t feel very Christian. I really didn’t like some people and wondered how God puts up with us.
It has been a week or so since I was there and I still am not real sure what I can do with the emotions I have. So I pray and trust God will give me the answers and grace to press out a life lesson from it all. I am working to understand how to love those like Hitler, and plump red faced self absorbed people. Not there yet.
“Father forgive them for they know not what they do.”
-Jesus
Who would want a picture of such a nightmarish sight? Why at that moment did he squeeze the shutter open? Was it by accident? Did he really want an image of the bullet piercing the mother and her son, and through mistaken timing had recorded an image milliseconds earlier than intended? Was this to be a trophy for the killer? Was this print circulated around the barracks and laughed at by spineless weak minded murders? The intended reason for the image may never be known but its affect on me is something I will never forget.
In my moment of anguish as I empathized with this mom I was interrupted by a plump red faced woman who blurted out “This is more than I can take, let’s go eat.” I couldn’t believe my ears. Lets go eat? That’s all she had to say about this memorial? This monument represents six million lives that were stripped of dignity, starved of the basics of humanity, and murdered. I guess a representation of such great sacrifice isn’t enough to keep the attention of the complacent millions whose number one is themselves. I almost asked God to let her choke on her “much needed” lunch but asked for forgiveness instead.
There is no happy ending to this story. I left the memorial, dejected, hurt and angry. That day I didn’t feel very Christian. I really didn’t like some people and wondered how God puts up with us.
It has been a week or so since I was there and I still am not real sure what I can do with the emotions I have. So I pray and trust God will give me the answers and grace to press out a life lesson from it all. I am working to understand how to love those like Hitler, and plump red faced self absorbed people. Not there yet.
“Father forgive them for they know not what they do.”
-Jesus
