Today I am grateful. This may seem strange to you, especially when I tell you what I am grateful for:
More than 20 years ago, I was treating Juvenile Delinquents and trying to find a way to reach them. I decided to look into the history of the Third Reich. My idea was to compare the behavior, philosophy and thinking of the SS with the thinking of street gangs as they exist today and confront a group of thugs with the fact that in many cases, their behavior mirrored that of the Nazis.
In order to gather more information, I was directed to take council with a woman at the Jewish Community Center. One thing led to another and I ended up spending time with a group of Holocaust Scholars. I also got to meet some of those extraordinary survivors.
Imagine if you will that you are a prisoner on this date, in 1943. The weather in Auschwitz is 20 degrees Fahrenheit. You are awakened by a gong at 5:30 AM and you are to get ready for the work day ahead. You have on prison garb which is not insulated. Just course striped material. You may or may not have shoes. You do not have a jacket, sweater or coat. You drink something akin to weak tea and prepare to form up in ranks. You try to look strong and healthy because the SS prowel the ranks like wolves looking for the weak and the sick so that they can exterminate them. Your work day is 11 hours and at midday, you are fed something akin to water with perhaps an onion or a piece of potato. You then work until sundown and are marched back to the barracks. The warmest it got today was 40 Fahrenheit..In the winter and early spring, you are never warm, and you are always hungry. If you have a toothache, you live with it. If you have a urinary tract infection you hope it will go away for you will only be treated if it affects your ability to work. If you are old, you are left to die. You have been here now for going on 2 years with every day the same as the last. You struggle to hang on to hope. Hope that a mighty champion will come and free you. Then, one day a champion comes; it is the hard fighting gallant men of the Soviet 100th infantry. They storm the gates of this hell and make short work of the SS. You are still hungry, you are still cold, You have a rash near your groin that bleeds and you have not had a proper bath in the last 3 years. Your bad tooth aches as usual. You feel lucky and believe this is the most wonderful day that ever existed. You drop to your knees and thank God.
Having the honor to meet some of the survivors and hearing their stories gave me a new perspective on what we in America think are hard times. Hearing of their suffering made me ashamed of myself when I decide that I am having the worst of all possible days. When I forgot that I woke up in a warm house, with food, and got my car out of the garage and stopped by the grocery store for Coffee and a sweet roll. I forgot that I took my medicine which I can afford and that if I need something, I can call my doctor. I forgot that I have a job with medical benefits and that I do not live in fear that the SS might knock on my door.
I have been asked, by my governor to stay at home when I am not working or purchasing something to eat.....................
SO WHAT??
More than 20 years ago, I was treating Juvenile Delinquents and trying to find a way to reach them. I decided to look into the history of the Third Reich. My idea was to compare the behavior, philosophy and thinking of the SS with the thinking of street gangs as they exist today and confront a group of thugs with the fact that in many cases, their behavior mirrored that of the Nazis.
In order to gather more information, I was directed to take council with a woman at the Jewish Community Center. One thing led to another and I ended up spending time with a group of Holocaust Scholars. I also got to meet some of those extraordinary survivors.
Imagine if you will that you are a prisoner on this date, in 1943. The weather in Auschwitz is 20 degrees Fahrenheit. You are awakened by a gong at 5:30 AM and you are to get ready for the work day ahead. You have on prison garb which is not insulated. Just course striped material. You may or may not have shoes. You do not have a jacket, sweater or coat. You drink something akin to weak tea and prepare to form up in ranks. You try to look strong and healthy because the SS prowel the ranks like wolves looking for the weak and the sick so that they can exterminate them. Your work day is 11 hours and at midday, you are fed something akin to water with perhaps an onion or a piece of potato. You then work until sundown and are marched back to the barracks. The warmest it got today was 40 Fahrenheit..In the winter and early spring, you are never warm, and you are always hungry. If you have a toothache, you live with it. If you have a urinary tract infection you hope it will go away for you will only be treated if it affects your ability to work. If you are old, you are left to die. You have been here now for going on 2 years with every day the same as the last. You struggle to hang on to hope. Hope that a mighty champion will come and free you. Then, one day a champion comes; it is the hard fighting gallant men of the Soviet 100th infantry. They storm the gates of this hell and make short work of the SS. You are still hungry, you are still cold, You have a rash near your groin that bleeds and you have not had a proper bath in the last 3 years. Your bad tooth aches as usual. You feel lucky and believe this is the most wonderful day that ever existed. You drop to your knees and thank God.
Having the honor to meet some of the survivors and hearing their stories gave me a new perspective on what we in America think are hard times. Hearing of their suffering made me ashamed of myself when I decide that I am having the worst of all possible days. When I forgot that I woke up in a warm house, with food, and got my car out of the garage and stopped by the grocery store for Coffee and a sweet roll. I forgot that I took my medicine which I can afford and that if I need something, I can call my doctor. I forgot that I have a job with medical benefits and that I do not live in fear that the SS might knock on my door.
I have been asked, by my governor to stay at home when I am not working or purchasing something to eat.....................
SO WHAT??
+ many ones
