The horrors of the Nazi regime have been so many years ago that much of the population was not even alive during the nineteen forties. It may just be a footnote in a high school textbook. There was no way to relate to the pain and agony of death involved. People were forced to stand nude in large crowds. They were beaten. Women were raped. They were starved to the point of looking like skin on bones. Many, many were executed in a gas chamber and their bodies thrown aside like trash. No one knew what terror would face them in the next minute.
It was not just the six million Jews who were annihilated. There were people of other nationalities. There were Christians who were caught up in the whirlwind of hatred. It is beyond our imagination how a person could agree to be in such a military that persecuted people like monsters. Those in charge of the concentration camp did anything and everything that pleased them. Doctors operated without anesthesia to explore the functioning of the human body while the patient screamed in agony.
In the middle of this stood two women. Here is an excerpt from a book written by Corrie ten Boom about her conversation with another woman:
“I was number 66730 in the concentration camp. One day I was called out at roll call and placed as number one in the row. Why did they call me? Could it be that I was to die that day? Next to me was a Dutch girl. I stood there with her for a long time, and I thought, ‘this is perhaps the last person to whom I can bring the Gospel, for a short while they will kill me.’ …. And perhaps in an hour they will kill me, but I am not afraid. I know I belong to Jesus and will go to heaven.’ She said,’ I would like to know Him.’ We had a long talk, and I showed her the way of salvation.
We will only know that in eternity how necessary it was for Corrie ten Boom to be placed in a concentration camp with all its fear and threats so that she might lead that Dutch girl to Christ! I encourage you to look at the bad things in your life as a means where you could lead others to Christ by example and testimony. We never know how many minutes left we have to share with someone else so that they might also have the promise of eternal life.
Christian Writer 