Sept. 30/16 - A Walk to Remember

Personal reflections have been a theme for in this blog. I did not anticipate blogging for Christianity & Imagination would be this way, but it seems to be working quite well. So I’m going to stick with it.

Reading the description of Madeline L’Engle’s feelings about war in the third chapter of Walking on Water reminded me of my Grade 12 trip to Europe with the Human Rights group at school. During Spring Break of 2014 I was invited to take part in a Human Rights and Holocaust trip overseas to broaden my understanding of the tragic events that took place during World War II. Looking over the first bit of L’Engle’s chapter brought back many emotions from our tour through Germany, Poland, and Czech Republic.

One memory of our time in Poland stands out in particular. Our tour guide took us through a well known concentration camp called Auschwitz. Before entering, the tour guide gave each of us headsets so we could hear her as we toured. As a class we were prepared emotionally for what we would encounter here. 

As we made our way through the SS office space and the prisoner living quarters, my heart grew heavy, as did those around me, but I maintained composure while others began sobbing and comforting each other.

We had completed the first half of the tour and started walking down the main road of the camp past the “hospital.” The tour guide began explaining how this Nazi physician would experiment on people with unique characteristics (e.g. twins, mental/physical disabilities, etc.). This bother me quite a bit. When the guide explained that at the end of the war, when Auschwitz had been captured by Allied forces, this doctor stood before the camp and was asked if he was had any regrets or was ashamed of what he had participated in. He said no. In fact, he was proud of what had happened. He had no regrets.

This flipped a switch in my mind and tears started to flow down my face. I was overcome with emotion. I furious that this man who had caused so much suffering in the lives of these undeserving prisoners. I ripped the headset off of my head and weeped. I weeped for these people who had gone through immense pain, physically, mentally, and emotionally being starved, living in fear, and losing friends and family.

I cried out to God, asking him why something like this had to happen; why people like this evil doctor did what they did. At the moment I didn’t feel peace. But God used this experience to shape my worldview and open my eyes to the brokenness of our race.