Thursday, January 28, 2021

A Reflection on the Holocaust, Part III of III

Yet, God through his Sacred Scripture shows us that the horrors depicted in various Holocaust horrors are not new to mankind.  

Throughout the ages man has received afflictions from others and has also been the source of affliction upon fellow human beings.  Evil has run rampant time and time again as we see it through the Holocaust, and as depicted in the Word of God.

Evil is essentially a mystery and even the Word of God leaves questions on evil unanswered.  But, Sacred Scripture does express the reality of evil with absolute honesty, and it does offer some consolation in addressing evil rather than any superficial avoidance of the mystery.

Since the Holocaust is a tragic reality, it must be viewed in light of Sacred Scripture for there never is a dichotomy between reality and the Word of God.  

The Word offers all peoples some understanding regarding the tragedy of evil which occurred through the Holocaust.  Therefore, we must continually search for answers to the mystery of evil, to seek a measure of understanding the trials and sufferings of life.  Sacred Scripture give us meaning regarding these trials and sufferings as found in the Book of Job:

“Behold, God is sublime in his power.  What teacher is there like him?  Who prescribes for him on his conduct, or who can say, ‘You have done wrong’?  Lo, God is great beyond our knowledge.” [i]

But, the mystery of evil continues.  There is no automatic response which will ever satisfy our questions, not even a verse from the Word of God can give a definitive conclusion.

Man continues to suffer, to question his suffering, his very existence, and to call out to God for an answer echoing the heart of Job:

“I cry to you but you do not answer me; you stand off and look at me; then you turn upon me without mercy and with your strong hand you buffet me.  You raise me up and drive me before the wind; I am tossed about by the tempest.  Yet, should not a hand be held out to help a wretched man in his calamity?  Yet, when I looked for good; the evil came; when I expected light, then came darkness.” [ii]

Although Job received his vindication in the end, he still suffered the affliction that made him call out to God for answers.  And he called out with a great passion, while never defying God, as evident in the Book of Job.

Likewise, the many just who have suffered, and who are suffering, call out to God with great passion, questioning him, and seeking answers to the evils which continually torment humanity.

The suffering and imploring God for answers in our valley of tears continues.  It is the quest of the human heart to beseech God for answers to assist us.  For not to do so would be contrary to our human nature, and also a contradiction of the wisdom of Sacred Scripture. 

Final Reflections: A Warning from the Department of Homeland Security

In conclusion, the reality of evil, manifested through hatred as recently evident at Charlottesville and the Capitol Riots, demands our vigilance. It is imperative that we heed the advisements of law enforcement authorities - such as the Department of Homeland Security National Terrorism Advisory Bulletin, released Jan. 27, 2021. 

This bulletin warns us of the heightened threat environment across the United States in clear language:

"some ideologically-motivated violent extremists with objections to the exercise of governmental authority and the presidential transition, as well as other perceived grievances fueled by false narratives, could continue to mobilize to incite or commit violence."

Read the DHS Bulletin, Click Here   

A Reflection on the Holocaust, Part I of III

A Reflection on the Holocaust, Part II of III

Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, pray for us.

Saint Maximilian Kolbe, pray for us.

Photos:

1. Scripture opening, Book of Job.

2. “The book of Job challenges the simple equation of suffering with punishment, by telling the story of one righteous man's confrontation with overwhelming misfortune.” By Moshe Greenberg from The Book of Job, illustration from the article depicts Job rebuked by his friends.

About the Author


Vincent J. Bove, CPP, is a national speaker and author on issues critical to America.  Bove is recipient of the FBI Director's Community Leadership Award and former confident of the New York Yankees.  He served as spokesperson for a coalition of victim’s families of the Virginia Tech tragedy. He is the author of 275 published works, including 15 cover stories for The Chief of Police.  His most recent books are Reawakening America and Listen To Their Cries. For more information see www.vincentbove.com or twitter @vincentjbove 


Related Coverage: Protecting Houses of Worship: A National Model

Safeguarding Houses of Worship, Protecting Communities, Personal Safety

Sanctuary Profaned: Protecting America's Houses of Worship


[i] Job 36: 22-23, 26.

[ii] Job 30: 20-22, 24, 26.

Bibliography

 New American Bible. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1976.

 Brown, Raymond, Joseph At. Fitzmeyer, and Roland E. Murphy, ed. The Jerome Biblical Commentary. New Jersey: Prentice Hall Inc., 1968.

 Cargas, Harry James, ed. When God and Man Failed. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc., 1981.

 Estess, Ted.  Elie Wiesel. New York: Frederick Ungar Publishing Co., 1980.

 Frankl, Victor E. Man’s Search for Meaning. Boston: Beacon Press, 1959.

Gerstenberger, Erhard. Enemies and Evildoers in the Psalms: A Challenge to Christian Preaching, Horizons in Biblical Theology 4, #2, 1982.

 Levin, Nora. The Holocaust. New York: Crowell Company, 1968.

 Manvell, Roger and Heinrich Frankel. Inside Adolph Hitler. New York: Pinnacle Books, 1973.

 Meltzer, Milton. Never to Forget. New York: Harper and Row, Publishers, 1976.

 Mowinckel, Sigmund.  The Psalm’s in Israel’s Worship. Nashville: Abingdon, 1962.

 Sabourin, Leopold. The Psalms. New York: Alba House, 1970.

 Schoenberner, Gerhard. The Yellow Star. New York: Bantam Books, 1973.

 Wiesel, Elie, Lucy Dawidowicz, Dorothy Rabinowitz, and Robert Brown.  Dimensions of the Holocaust.  Illinois: Northwestern University Press, 1977.

Bibliography, Secondary Sources

 Altshuler, David. Hitler’s War Against the Jews. New York: Behrman House Inc., 1978.

 Bauer, Yehuda. American Jewry and the Holocaust. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1981.

 Berenbaum, Michael. The Vision of the Void. Connecticut: Wesleyan University Press, 1979.

 Berkovits Eliezer.  Faith After the Holocaust.  New York: Ktav Publishing, 1973.

 Dadidowicz, Lucy S. ed. A Holocaust Reader. New York: Behrman House Inc., 1976.

 Dimsdale, Joel. Survivors, Victims and Perpetrators. Washington: Hemisphere Publishing Corporation, 1980.

 Fleischner, Eva, ed. Auschwitz: Beginning of a New Era. New York: Stav Publishing House, 1977.

 Glatson, Jacob, Israel Knox, and Samuel Margoshes, ed.  Anthology of Holocaust Literature. Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication, 1968.

 Hellman, Peter. Avenue of the Righteous. New York: Atheneum, 1980.

 Langer, Lawrence.  The Holocaust and Literary Imagination.  New Haven: Yale University Press, 1975.

 Neusner, Jacob, ed. Understanding Jewish Theology. New York: Ktav Publishing House, 1973.

 Peck, Abraham J. ed. Jews and Christians After the Holocaust. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1982.

 Rabinowitz, Dorothy.  About the Holocaust.  New York: Institute of Human Relations Press, 1979.

 Roth, John.  A Consuming Fire.  Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1979.

 Rubenstein, Richard.  After the Holocaust.  New York: Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill Company, Inc. 1966.

 Sherwin, Byron and Susan Ament, ed. Encountering the Holocaust. Chicago: Impact Press, 1976.

 Weinstein, Fred.  The Dynamics of Nazism.  New York: Academic Press, 1980.

 

 


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Friday, January 22, 2021

A Reflection on the Holocaust, Part II of III


Could this Scripture passage have given him hope that help would come from his God?  Or, was he suffering too much pain from the physical and emotional trauma of the S.S. troops to be able to call out to God?

“My dignity is borne off on the wind, and my welfare vanishes like a cloud.  One with great power lays hold of my clothing, by the collar of my tunic he seizes me.  He has cast me into the mire. I am leveled with the dust and ashes.[i]

Verses through the Book of Job express just how profoundly realistic the Work of God is concerning the trials and suffering of humanity.

As I reflect on the above Scripture verse, I am observing a photograph of two Auschwitz prisoners who have just taken their own lives by hurling themselves onto high-voltage barb-wire fencing. Their contorted bodies lie motionless as the killer wire lays hold of their burnt flesh and singed prison garb.

It has been said that many Jews desired to frustrate the Nazis by not making extermination easy for them.  As illustrated in this photo, here is one case of suicide rather than passive resistance.[ii]

But for many of the Jews, despair overcame any desire of passively resisting death.  Suicide provided freedom form the heinous torture which was the norm in the Nazi death camp.

Those accustomed to dainty food perish in the streets; those brought up in purple now cling to the ash heaps.  Now their appearance is blacker than dirt, they are unrecognized on the streets, their skin shrinks on their bones as dry as wood.[iii]

The above verses from the Book of Lamentations were written by a witness of Israel’s humiliation after the fall of Jerusalem in the sixth century.  It was a crucial point in Israel’s history since its temple was destroyed, its leaders were exiled, and national sovereignty was lost.[iv]

These same Scripture verses can be easily applied to another major point in Jewish history, one much more devastating and abominable that the 6th century calamity.

During the liberation of the Nazi death camps by the Allies, horrific scenes of death were everywhere.  Thousands of emaciated corpses were found piled upon one another throughout the camps.  This was because the crematoriums were limited in the numbers of bodies that needed to be turned to ashes before the liberation.

Unimaginable to try to understand the minds of civilized military personnel to witness this sadistic contempt for human life.


Emaciated corpses of abandoned, tortured, and starved members of the human family surrounded the liberators throughout the camps.  Cruelty of this magnitude toward one human being is hideous itself. But, cruelty which led to the slaughter of eleven million innocent people in such a manner is an evil no human is capable of understanding. 

I am now viewing a photograph of a large pit containing the emaciated bodies of thousands of Holocaust victims.

In the foreground of this photo, women S.S. guards carry slain victims toward the mass burial site.

Did this deranged task stir the conscience of any of these women – the purveyors of death?  Did any of them ever express, or receive an act of kindness from any of their butchered victims?  Did the bloodshed from the human carnage they engaged in every upset them?   Or is it possible that Hitler’s propaganda on The Final Solution – death to European Jews, had so brainwashed these Nazi guards that this chore served only as their pleasant manifestation of Nazi victory?

“I loathe my life.  I will give myself up to complaint. I will speak from the bitterness of my soul.  Is it a pleasure for you to oppress, to spurn the work of your hands, and smile on the plan of the wicked.”[v]

Job addressed God in the above verse by telling him just how deep his sadness was.  Job is being persecuted and he has no answer from anyone, particularly from his friends who only offer him poor advice and little compassion.  Job calls out to God with blunt honesty when he says with great discouragement, “Is it a pleasure for you to oppress.”

Millions of Holocaust victims must have echoed the discouragement of Job by calling out to God for an answer to the tormenting madness which surrounded them.  The persecution of one who is just was not evident only in the life of Job, but in countless just souls who experienced the sadistic madness of the Nazi regime.

I look at the photo of a death camp prisoner sitting on a hump of dirt.  Behind him is the electric barb wire fence.

He is emaciated and wears prison garb rags.

But, the worst terror is evident in the man’s face.  His tightly closed eyes express total despair and his mouth is open, while his face remains tense.

Death surrounds him and he seems to be only a split second away from death caused not only from starvation and torture, but from the loss of hope.

Never have a seen a photograph that depicts despair as much as this one.  The man looks too weak to take another breath.  I cannot imagine the last time he had a decent meal, a shower, a compliment, an expression of kindness.  Why, and how did he manage to live as long as he did?  Was he formally a robust man who survived immediate death upon arriving at the extermination camp, to be a slave for the Nazis?  How many times did he call out to God asking for liberation, for salvation from hell on earth?  Did he die the moment after this photo was taken?  Was he crying from the depths of his soul this verse from Scripture:

“My God, my God, why have you abandoned me, far from my prayer, from the words of my cry?  O my God, I cry out by day, and you answer me not, by night, and there is no relief for me.”[vi]

How can one live another moment of life with such despair?

Oppression of the Jewish Community

“His mouth is full of cursing, guile and deceit; under his tongue are mischief and iniquity.  He lurks in ambush near the villages; in hiding he murders the innocent; his eyes spy upon the unfortunate. He waits in secret like a lion in his liar, he lies in wait to catch the afflicted; he catches the afflicted and drags them off in his net.  He stoops and lies prone till by his violence fall the unfortunate.[vii]

The above psalm verses explicitly detail the oppression of the Jewish community.  Although the psalm deals with the difficulties of Jewish oppression during Old Testament times, it certainly expresses oppression during the Holocaust.


These verses portray the evil of the Nazis as one views photographs of them rounding up Jewish people, as if they were wild beasts to be destroyed.

The psalm becomes an unfortunate reality as I see photographs of Nazis mocking and beating their victims in the streets. Older Jewish men upon their immediate arrest have their beards sheared off by Nazis who laugh during this profane mockery of human dignity.

Nude women await their turns at the gas chambers, tenderly clutching their infants and small children under the evil oppression of the Nazi guards.  Men, women, and children are packed like cattle in freight cars as they board the death trains on route to Auschwitz.  Their persecutors hurry them along at gun point.

Hitler’s youth desecrate sacred temples with profanity and slogans such as Death to the Jews and The Jews are Swine.

Nazis entertain themselves by having Jews subject to their sexual inclinations.  Women are raped prior to their death by gas.  Jewish children, wearing yellow stars identifying their nationality, are led to death in the gas chambers under gun point.  Over one million of the six million slaughtered Jews were children.

Men are forced to dig their own graves prior to being shot by the Nazis, and then these men are buried by the next group of victims who are members of their own families –their brothers, sons, fathers, grandfathers, cousins, and uncles.

Gassed Jews have their gold teeth extracted by specially trained Nazi guards.  Men, women, and children undergo sadistic medical experimentations at the death camps.  They are subject to starvation experiments, injected with malaria, cancer – and other diseases.

The human carnage continues as millions become death statistics to the delight of the Nazi’s.

A Meditation on Proverbs

“A scoundrel is a furnace of evil, and on his lips there is a scorching fire.  A lawless man allures his neighbor and leads him into a way that is not good.” [viii]

As I reflect on the above Scripture verse, I picture scenes of death train prisoners on their way t Auschwitz and the other extermination camps.

The trains were the least expensive and the most efficient manner by which masses of Jews could be sent to the death camps.

The Nazis allured the Jews to the trains, which eventually reached the death camps, by telling the Jews they would be colonized.  These lies were simply a device used to trick the Jews and keep them calm during their transportation.

The trains began in Vienna in October, 1939 and soon afterwards transported Jews from Czechoslovakia, Germany, and Poland.[ix] 


Often the innocent, baffled, and defenseless train prisoners realized the Nazi lies were manipulating them to the gas chambers.  Subsequently, to the fires of the crematoriums.

Giza Landau, a prisoner of the Nazis, who narrowly escaped death describes what traveling to a death camp was like:

“We traveled in locked wagons, closely packed together and half suffocated.  We all said goodbye to each other for we knew that the ovens and gas chambers were waiting for us.  Although we often talked about it, nobody could really imagine what I could be like.  When we arrived in Auschwitz in the evening we were taken to Berkenau.  When we were still a long way away we could see the sky glowing red as if there were a fire.  None of us could imagine that it could be human beings burning like that, although we had already been through a lot. There was no smoke coming from the chimneys, only a rain of sparks.  People asked the guards what was burning and they replied it must be bread being baked.  Day and Night. But we knew this could not be the case.[x]

The aforementioned psalm mentioned referred to a scoundrel as a furnace of evil with lips of scorching fire representing his neighbor as evil.  Tragically, this verse became q vivid reality for millions of Jews who were led to the fires of the crematoriums.

Meditation on Psalm 44

“You have let us be driven back by our foes: those who hated us plundered us at will, you marked us out as sheep to be slaughtered; among the nations you scattered us.

“You made us the reproach of our neighbors, the mockery and the scorn of tose around us.   You made us a by-word among the nations, a laughing stock among the peoples.  All the day my disgrace is before me, and shame covers my face.  At the voice of him who mocks and blasphemes, and in the presence of the enemy and the avenger.”[xi]

The above psalm verses express the tragedy of an earlier Israel community.  The author of the psalm continually uses the term you on addressing God.  Not only does this expression portray an intimate relationship between the author and God, but is also expressed the author’s belief of a culpability of God for the wretched condition of the Israel community. The psalm verses are those which express the lamentation of the community.[xii]

The verses of this psalm are also profoundly expressive of various circumstances of horror which afflicted the Holocaust victims.

I am continually impressed at how Sacred Scripture profoundly captures illustrates meaning for events throughout time.

As the Israel community lamented through when this psalm was written, so too does the psalm express suffering of the Israel community during the Holocaust.  Another time, another place, but see how the following scene depicts oppression, slaughtering of the innocents, mockery, shame, and disgrace.   These are indicative of the evils described in the psalm, and again here, a description of evil during the Holocaust by one of its most renowned authors, a former prisoner at Auschwitz:

“Between 450 and 500 persons were crowded into a chamber measuring 125 square feet in Treblinka.  Parents carried their children in the vain hope of saving them from death.  On the way to their doom they were pushed with rifle butts and gas pipes.  Dogs were set upon them, barking and biting and tearing them apart.  Then the doors were shut tightly with a bang.  Twenty-five minutes later everyone was dead and they stood lifeless; there being no free spaces, they just leaned against each other.  They no longer shouted because the thread of their lives had been broken.  They no longer had any needs or desires.  Mothers held their dead children tightly in their arms.  There were no more friends and no more enemies. There was no lo jealousy.  All were equal. There was no longer any beauty and ugliness for all looked yellow from the gas.[xiii]

The above quotation shows the horror of extermination and death in an expressiveness which is also evident in Sacred Scripture.  Scripture also continuously depicts the evil of war, hatred, oppression, and persecution.

The Holocaust, as well as other earth shattering evils does not have any rational reasons to give answers to the question of why?  Man, no matter how brilliant, will never be able to adequately explain a mystery of evil – why was such evil permitted and caused.

A Reflection on the Holocaust, Part I of III

Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, pray for us.
Saint Maximilian Kolbe, pray for us.

[i] Job 30:15-19.

[ii] Milton Meltzer, Never to Forget (New York: Harper and Row Publishers, 1976) p. 140

[iii] Lamentations 4: 5 & 8.

[iv] New American Bible, Introduction to the Book of Lamentations

[v] Job 10: 1 & 3.

[vi] Psalm 22: 2-3.

[vii] Psalm 10: 7-10.

[viii] Proverbs 16: 27 & 29.

[ix] Nora Levin, The Holocaust (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1968), p. 163.

[x] Gerhard Schoenberner, The Yellow Star (New York: Bantam Books, 1973, p. 187. (Quote of Giza Landau)

[xi] Psalm 44: 11-12, 14-17.

[xii] Raymond Brown, The Jerome Biblical Commentary (New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1968) p.583.

[xiii] Elie Wiesel, The Holocaust as Literary Imagination, Dimensions of the Holocaust (Illinois: Northwestern University Press, 1977) p. 15.

About the Author


Vincent J. Bove, CPP, is a national speaker and author on issues critical to America.  Bove is recipient of the FBI Director's Community Leadership Award and former confident of the New York Yankees.  He served as spokesperson for a coalition of victim’s families of the Virginia Tech tragedy. He is the author of 275 published works, including 15 cover stories for The Chief of Police.  His most recent books are Reawakening America and Listen To Their Cries. For more information see www.vincentbove.com or twitter @vincentjbove 


Related CoverageProtecting Houses of Worship: A National Model

Photos - Due to the passage of time, photo's originally reflected on for the 1985 thesis, are not used but substitutes that also reflect the horror of the Holocaust.

1. Children at Auschwitz. (Getty Images)

2. Einsatzgruppen killings. (Credit PBS)

3. Auschwitz (Universal History Archive, Getty)

4. Child with hands up. (Unknown Author)


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Tuesday, January 19, 2021

A Reflection on the Holocaust, Part I of III

As we approach International Holocaust Remembrance Day on January 27, 2021 to remember the millions of innocent victims murdered by the Nazis and their collaborators, we must pause and reflect.

Our reflection must include action, according to each of our circumstances in life, to insure that the world never forget the truth of what happened because of hate.

We must also remember that hate and extremism, as manifested during our Capitol riots, is an ever present danger that can ignite catastrophic events.

Aware of this danger, let us proceed with an integration of recent realities of hate, here in America, so that we may unite together as light to vanquish the darkness of hate.

The Toxic Virus of Hatred

In numerous of my published works on the Holocaust including my Nov. 24, 2017 article Bigotry, Prejudice, Racism: America’s Toxic Virus, the consequences of hate were addressed. 

This article was a wake-up call because “a virus proliferated by hate is infecting our country.”

The Charlottesville Warning

In another article, America’s Warning: Hatred Unleashed in Charlottesville on Aug. 16, 2017, I cited the FBI/DHS Joint Intelligence Bulletin (JIB) of May 10, 2017.

The JIB provided “insight into the targeting preferences of white supremacist extremists and the state of white supremacist extremism in the United States.”

The perspective of the JIB report, which I stressed in this article, was that white supremacist extremism through lethal violence will continue.

My article also stressed my opinion – lethal violence by white supremacists was emboldened by Charlottesville and “we must prepare ourselves for additional eventualities from white supremacists motivated by hate.”

The article also stressed that “the lessons we must learn from Charlottesville, especially since other demonstrations empowered by the event are forthcoming, is that America must work collaboratively against hatred to prevent additional violence and division.”

Hatred at the Capitol

The eventualities of white supremacists attacks were memorialized in these published works. It was a preview to their criminality as instigators of hate, sedition, and insurrection during the Capitol attack on Jan. 6, 2021.

The Capitol attack was not only a manifestation of the hatred documented in my articles, but it was a reminder of a work I authored 36 years ago.  This was in May, 1985, when I completed a treatise as part of the requirements for a Master of Art degree.

This treatise crystalized a catastrophic event in human history, but it also memorialized a warning for the consequences of hatred.

The treatise was written before the Internet and easy digital documentation. So now, I feel the responsibility of publishing it in The Sentinel.  This is for the service of education, warning, my dedication to  Roman Catholic theology, and that the world never forget the Holocaust.

It is hopeful that this article will be a reminder that we must never forget the Holocaust, and the consequences of hate.

Scriptural Reflections on the Holocaust, Part I of III

The Psalms, particularly the Psalms of lamentation, deal extensively with suffering and adversaries.

In these laments, there is a close association between form and substance, determined by various circumstances and intentions.


The people oppressed by the adversary are in distress and turn to God for help, knowing that his might, power, and faithfulness to the covenant has vindicated them in the past.

They have experienced his wrath for their sinfulness, yet, they have also experienced his benefits.

The people lament for God has turned away from them.  He has hidden his face and they wonder why and for how long. 

They cry unto him, place their distress before him with humility, and seek to rouse his compassion by touching his heart.

The people must make recompense for whatever they have done to displease God.  They must seek reconciliation by confessing their sinful behavior.  God is almighty and can do all things while his people can do nothing without him.

These human and religious thoughts and reactions are the basis for the springing up on the lament, a call to God for help in a particular circumstance. [i]

Since the lament is a chief category of the Psalms, it would do us well to examine it a little more carefully.

Even in the opening of the lament, there is an invocation of the name of God, a prayerful turning to him with the imperative word following: “Hear us!”, “Listen to my voice,” or right out, “Give me my right, O Lord. [ii]

The Psalms make it clear that Israel is aware of whom she must turn to.[iii]

Frequently, some hymnal attributes are added once the name of God has been mentioned in the lament.  These attributes contain an appeal based on the close relationship between God and his people, to his power and willingness to help.[iv]

Psalms of Lament

First, the invocation is immediately followed by a pleas for help:

“O God, do not remain unmoved; be not silent O God, and be not still.”[v]

Secondly, to the invocation are added hymnal words which appeal to Yahweh for help:

“O Shepherd of Israel, hearken, O guide of the flock of Joseph!  From your throne upon the cherubim, shine forth before Epharim, Benjamin, and Manasseh. Rouse your power and come to save us.”[vi]

Thirdly, the invocation may immediately be followed by the plaintive question:

“Why O God have you cast us off forever?  Why does your anger smolder against the sheep of your pasture?[vii]

Yet, the invocation may be missing and the Psalm start with the lament (a description of the conduct of the enemies and evildoers) which has the form of an accusation directed against the gods of those who oppress.[viii]

There are personal laments which are complaints against deadly adversaries which seek to destroy the life of the suppliant, and there are the national laments which attack the enemies and evildoers.[ix]

These national laments belong to the days of humiliation and prayer, proclaimed in the ancient world or special circumstances of crisis such as defeat in war, attack, and ravaging by external enemies.[x]

The background of such a national psalm of lament has definite historical value for the enemies are historically real as expressed by those nations who have attacked Israel:

“Yet, they consult with one mind, and against you they are allied.  The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelite’s, Moab and the people of Hagar, Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek, Philistia and the inhabitants of Tyre: the Assyrians too are leagued with them; they are the forces of the sons of Lot.”[xi]

The aim of the national psalms of lament which deal with historical oppression are to strike at the root of disaster.  They are prayers of great confidence in God who is trusted to do great things.  God is trusted to interfere, for the laments are not magical formulas but true prayers to God who shall hear the cry of his people and vindicate them from the malice of the enemies and evildoers:[xii]

“Let the malice of the wicked come to an end, but sustain the just, O searcher of heart and soul, O just God.  A shield before me is God, who saves the upright of heart; a just judge is God, a God who punishes day by day.  Unless they be converted, God will sharpen his sword.  He will bend and aim his bow, prepare his deadly weapons against them, and use fiery darts for arrows.[xiii]

The Pleas of the Congregation


The congregation pleads in their prayers to God for help form the evildoers, those who are sinners, and from the enemies who are deceitful, oppressors, wicked, evildoers, sorcerers, fools, faithless, robbers, lions, and vipers of venom.  The congregation is at odds with these enemies and evil doers, yet it admits its sinfulness, humbles itself, and does penance.  Therefore, we have the penitential lament which expresses sinfulness and humility:[xiv]

“Remember not against us the iniquities of the past; may your compassion quickly come to save us, for we are brought very low.  Help us, O God our Savior, because of the glory of your name; Deliver us and pardon us for your name’s sake.”[xv]

Although the people do express their sinfulness and humbly ask for God’s help against the enemies, the question is rightly asked, who are the enemies?  Presumably, the enemies and evildoers vary according to the psalmist who talks about them.  Of course, the enemies of the king are identified with those who are enemies of his nation.  But, the role of the enemies played throughout the Psalms is difficult to explain.  Yet, the psalmist’s description of enemies is to be examined.[xvi]

The enemies are generally referred to as evil doers.  Often, they are more specifically referred to as false witnesses, as insolent, as persecutors, proud, and bloodthirsty men.  In the figurative, the candidates for enemies are referred to as roaring beasts, lions, or bulls.[xvii]  Although these are merely allusions to those who are enemies and evildoers, the problem of explicitly knowing who they are is not clear cut for there is little evidence. [xviii]

We have shared some historical background on the psalms of lamentation as understood in their actual setting (sitz im leben).  Also, we have looked at the form and content of these psalms as well sought to understand the concept of enemies and evildoers. Now, with this background information, we are now ready to explore a contemporary setting for lamentation which expressed itself through the tragedy of the Holocaust.

A Time for Reflection

“A philosopher has written that language breaks down when one tries to speak about the Holocaust.  Our words pale before the frightening spectacle of human evil unleashed upon the world, and before the awesome numbers of suffering, the sheer weight of its numbers – eleven million innocent victims exterminated – six million of them Jews.  But, we must strive to understand, we must teach the lessons of the Holocaust, and most of all, we ourselves must remember.[xix]

During the last few months {written in 1985}, personal studies on the tragic event of the Holocaust have made a profound impression on my life.  The stark realities of the terrifying barbarity which took place in the lives of 11 million atrociously slaughtered men, women, and children is a nightmare.

Months of reflection and study on a catastrophic event in world history has made me realize these atrocities must be known by every human being.

The Holocaust was an historical reality that must never be forgotten.  It must remain known to all peoples in every time and place.  The world must be aware of the devastating cruelty that can be ignited whenever the seeds of hatred are allowed to be cultivated by unchecked power, prejudice, and bigotry.

May We Forever Remember

One of the most renowned authorities on the Holocaust, Elie Wiesel, shares this thought:

“Our professional conviction is that anyone who does not actively, constantly engage in remembering and making others remember (the Holocaust) is an accomplice of the enemy.  Conversely, anyone who opposes the enemy must take the side of his victims and communicate their tales, tales of solitude and despair, tales of silence and defiance.[xx]

Image the evil which has taken place between the Holocaust years of 1933-1944; eleven million slaughtered human beings have had their innocent blood spilled without mercy.

May God forbid that this barbarism remain only a memory on the pages of history.  The Holocaust must be remembered in the reflective minds, and the compassionate hearts of all peoples who seek the cause of truth, justice, and unity among all nations.  It must be mandatory curriculum in our schools, as it is an historical reality, and a lesson on the consequences of intolerance, hate, and diversity - all elements of character education which needs revitalization in American schools. 

There are numerous photographs and writings which explicitly illustrate the horrors that took place during the Holocaust. Careful reflection on various photographs and writings have given me a vivid impression of the horrors that took place.

During my time of Holocaust studies I have reflected on hundreds of depictions of atrocities.  Along with these illustrations, I have meditated on verses from Sacred Scripture which give insight to accompany the illustrations.

The verses from the Word of God have placed the photographs and essays into a perspective which further sharpens the sobering reality of the Holocaust.

And since Sacred Scripture does not deal lightly with afflictions, sufferings, persecution and various evils, the reality is vividly expressed.

God continually speaks to His people through Sacred Scriptures.  Therefore, I would like to share some Sacred Scripture verses, along with personal reflections on different Holocaust scenes depicted in the items that I have reflected upon.  My purpose in this study will be twofold: first, as a prayerful work dedicated to the memory of Holocaust victims who must never be forgotten.

Second, to emphasize through Scripture reflection and study, the profoundly detailed way by which God’s Word expresses the evils which befall mankind. The purpose of these reflections and Scripture passages is not to give answers to the various evils that will be explored.  The purpose of this work is to express the reality of evil that the Sacred Scriptures explicitly reveal.

“Be on your guard against false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but underneath are wolves on the prowl.  You will know them by their deeds.”[xxi]

If civilization were ever to receive the warning of Christ against false prophets, Adolph Hitler’s deeds certainly proved him to be a false prophet.  His anti-Semitism was the most destructive weapon in his propaganda tactics which sought to uphold German purity while destroying the Jews whom he considered the enemy of the state.

Adolph Hitler believed that destruction of the Jewish people would preserve the German race from impurities, while also giving his Nazi state tremendous political and economic power.  Therefore, Hitler sought to destroy the Jewish people through deeds of book burnings, temple destructions, mockery, and forced labor which developed into heinous murders, tortures, and the death camps as an attempt to totally annihilate Jewry in Europe.

Christ’s warning against false prophets most likely dealt with those who claimed to have a new revelation rather than with false teachers or political leaders.  But, ironically, Hitler, who became to be a Christian also claimed to be a prophet as noted in these words of his:

“In my life I have often been a prophet and most of the time I have been laughed at.  During the period of my struggle for power, it was the first instance the Jewish people that received with laughter my prophecies that someday I would take over the leadership of the state and thereby of the whole people, and that I would among other things solve the Jewish problem.  I believe that in the meantime that hyenic laughter of the Jews of Germany has been smothered in their throats.  Today, I want to be a prophet once more: if international finance Jewry inside and outside of Europe should succeed once more in plunging nations into another world war, the consequence will not be the bolshevization of the earth and thereby the victory of the Jews, but the annihilation of the Jewish race in Europe.[xxii]

Even with a shallow understanding of photo analysis, an observer can sense the intensity of hostility, violence, and hatred coming from the core of photographs of Hitler, as well as from his writings and speeches.  History has proven that he was a violent, angry and hate filled man.  This is expressed through his deeds.

Adolph Hitler was a man with a demonic desire for power despite any obstacles, even the deaths of millions of lives.

 The Mockery of the Innocent

“He who mocks the poor blasphemes his maker; he who is glad at calamity will not go unpunished.”[xxiii]


The above verse from Wisdom Literature is appropriate as I mediate on a photo of S.S. men amusing themselves by mocking a Jewish man.  They surround him and laugh despicably while watching him try to sit up in the street where he is being tormented.

The S.S. men have beaten this man mercilessly with punches and kicks.  They are spitting on him while laughing demonically.

These S.S. men, the elite guardsmen of the Nazi party are enjoying one of their daily tortures against the Jews whom they hate with a passion.  It must be remembered that the S.S. swore to be loyal to Adolph Hitler unconditionally.  They were Hitler’s puppet henchmen who carried out with barbaric intensity the Fuhrer’s desire to destroy the Jews.  The S.S. served Hitler throughout the Reich and were depraved masters of torture and cruelty in the Nazi death camps.

What went on in the mind of the Jew being mocked by these sadistic S.S. troops?  Did he want to fight back despite any hope against his outnumbered tormentors? Did he cry out to God for assistance and hear the response of the S.S. insult him while cutting off his beard with the words, “God does not answer the prayers of the Jews.  Or did the mocked man echo the words of Scripture with a prayer from the heart, “Hear my prayer O Lord, to my cry give ear, to my weeping be not deaf.”[xxiv]

A Reflection on the Holocaust, Part II of III

A Reflection on the Holocaust, Part III of III

Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, pray for us.
Saint Maximilian Kolbe, pray for us.

[i] Mowinckel, Sigmund, The Psalms in Israel’s Worship, Nashville: Abingdon, 1962) p. 194.

[ii] Psalm 80: 8

[iii] Mowinckel, p. 195.

[iv] Mowinckel, p. 195.

[v] Psalm 83: 2 (all Scripture passages, New American Bible)

[vi] Psalm 80: 2-3

[vii] Psalm 74:1

[viii] Mowinckel, p. 196

[ix] Gerstenberger, Erkard, “Enemies and Evildoers in the Psalms: A Challenge to Christian Preaching, “Horizons in Biblical Theology 4, #2 (1982) p. 64.

[x] Mowinckel, p. 193, 197.

[xi] Psalm 83: 6-9.

[xii] Mowinckel, p. 202-203.

[xiii] Psalm 7: 10-14.

[xiv] Mowinckel, p. 211-213.

[xv] Psalm 79, 8-9.

[xvi] Sabourin, Leopold, The Psalms (New York, Alba House, 1970) p. 114.

[xvii] Sabourin, p. 115.

[xviii] Sabourin, p. 116.

[xix] President Jimmy Carter, International Holocaust Day, Apr. 24, 1979.

[xx] Elie Wiesel, “The Holocaust as Literary Imagination,” Dimensions of the Holocaust, (Illinois: Northwestern University Press, 1977) p. 16.

[xxi] Matthew 16: 15-16.

[xxii] Adolph Hitler, speech, January 30, 1939

[xxiii] Proverbs 17: 15.

[xxiv] Psalm 39:13.

About the Author


Vincent J. Bove, CPP, is a national speaker and author on issues critical to America.  Bove is recipient of the FBI Director's Community Leadership Award and former confident of the New York Yankees.  He served as spokesperson for a coalition of victim’s families of the Virginia Tech tragedy. He is the author of 275 published works, including 15 cover stories for The Chief of Police.  His most recent books are Reawakening America and Listen To Their Cries. For more information see www.vincentbove.com or twitter @vincentjbove 


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Note Well: Due to the passage of time, photo's originally reflected on for the 1985 article, are not used but substitutes that also reflect the horror of the Holocaust.

Photos - Due to the passage of time, photo's originally reflected on for the 1985 thesis are not used, but substitutes that also reflect the horror of the Holocaust.

1.     White nationalists bearing torches converge on the grounds of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville on Aug. 11, 2017. (Edu Bayer—The New York Times/Redux)

2.      A man wearing a garment that reads, “Camp Auschwitz” and “Work Brings Freedom,” is pictured in an image made from ITV News video on Jan. 6, 2020, during the riot in the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C.

3.  Surrounded by the historic significance of Ellis Island, the Statue of Liberty, and the New York Skyline is the Liberation Monument by Natan Rapaport.  This inspirational statue depicts a World War II American Soldier carrying a survivor from a concentration camp.  The image moves the soul to reflect in the values of compassion, character, and community.

4.      “In the photo, a large group of jovial young soldiers towers above a traditionally dressed Jewish man, almost completely surrounding him. In the left foreground, one young man, hands on his hips, turns his head to regard the photographer with a smirk, inviting him to witness the fun. The grinning faces of the soldiers belie the obvious enjoyment they are taking from inflicting such humiliation on the Jewish man trapped in the center. His stoical facial expression is harder to decipher, but his body language is not – his left hand is clenched into a tight fist, his body is stiff, his shoulders are hunched. His tormenters are clearly posing for the photographer, laughing, as – scissors in hand – they cut off his beard, and dangle his shorn hair from their fingers. The photo depicts a quintessential act of bullying, the mob mentality, and the power of many against one. The Jewish victim is rendered voiceless, powerless, a mere object of amusement. The photographer is clearly one of the crowd as his comrades pose and smile for his lens.” (Photo Credit and Description: Vad Yasham, The World Holocaust Remembrance Center)

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