Tag: Dachau

  • Never Again!

    “Yet the number of the children of Israel
    Shall be as the sand of the sea,
    Which cannot be measured or numbered.
    And it shall come to pass
    In the place where it was said to them,
    ‘You are not My people,’
    There it shall be said to them,
    ‘You are sons of the living God.’  Hosea 1:10

    In Genesis, God promises Abraham that He would make Abraham the father of nations.  This verse shows that God kept His promise to Abraham and the children of Israel.  Generations had passed from the time of Abraham to when the book of Hosea was written.  God is the same, yesterday, today and forever.  We can trust in His promises.  Hold His promises in our hearts.

    Over the centuries, God’s people, the children of Israel have been scattered to the four corners of the world and have been victims of genocide.  They have been persecuted and annihilated.

    The most recent example of the genocide inflicted upon the children of Israel was the Holocaust in Germany during World War II.  We visited the death camp, Dachau, when we lived in Germany.  That camp was the model for all other concentration camps.  The Germans were told these camps were to rehabilitate.  They were not told the Jews would be used for various and inhumane medical experiments or that they would die horrible deaths in gas chambers. When Dachau was finally liberated in April in 1945, there were thirty thousand Jews in a camp designed for only six thousand.  I stood in the massive compound where Jews stood for hours on end and cried.  This cruelty has been inflicted upon the Jews throughout the centuries.

    But God has always kept a remnant of His people. And He will continue to protect His people regardless of the political climate.  His word tells us they are His people.  He will bless those who bless Israel and He will curse those who curse Israel.  We need only look at the influx of the children of Israel to the land of Israel over the last thirty years.  God is bringing His people back to the land He gave Abraham. They have come full circle.  His word is true.

    Have you ever visited Dachau? Or some other concentration camp? Share your experience with us. 

  • Memorial Day

    My father served (pictured on the left) in the Navy in World War II and my husband served in the Air Force at the tail end of the Vietnam War. Friends and classmates have served.  I have always been in awe of their service and for those who served in the United States Armed Forces throughout these past 200+ years. 

    They have served and continue to serve the United States with dignity and pride.  American soldiers have served to keep our country safe but most importantly to keep Americans, you and me, safe. 

    For a time, some years ago, my husband worked for a company that had contracts with the military and we lived in Germany.  We had the distinct privilege to see first hand the military bases used by the Germans during the second world war.  Military bases that are now American military bases.

    American families resided on those bases in Germany while their spouses were deployed somewhere in the middle east. These wives and husbands raised their children until their spouses could return to them if they returned. 

    The soldiers aren’t the only ones sacrificing for our freedoms, their families do too.  Birthdays, holidays, special occasions all missed by the parent who is deployed. The children miss out.  The spouse misses out. And the soldier misses out.  All to keep our freedoms.

    While living in Germany,  we toured the German concentration camp, Dachau.  It was much smaller than the original camp.  A sculpture erected on a platform in front of the administration building in the main camp area was cast in bronze.   I couldn’t tell what it was until I reached the middle of the camp area.  I was directly in front of it and had to look at it for a minute or two to figure out what it was:  Barbed wire with skeletons at odd angles.  It depicted what had occurred there all those years ago. I stood there and cried.   

    On the opposite wall, a bronze plaque in five languages reads, Never Again.

    Dachau camp was the model for the more than 15,000 camps the Germans built in occupied countries.  To think that a camp that was originally built for 6,000 political prisoners had over 10 times that many people, including Jews, when it was liberated on April 29, 1945.   Never again.  

    It was heart-rending to see the artifacts.  While my heart ached at the loss of life in those crematoriums, I couldn’t wrap my mind around the fact that United States soldiers freed prisoners in countless camps.  I am forever grateful TO them and FOR them for their sacrifice and for the sacrifice their families give on a daily basis. 

    Today, we remember ALL of them. Our prayers are with those who currently serve and those who have served. Always. 

     “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”    Joshua 1:9
    Who in your family has served and in what branch?