I have often written about growing up in a community with a large Jewish population, and how that experience shaped me in ways that most Americans could never imagine. I learned about the Holocaust every year, and these lessons were horrific and deeply moving. I listened to the grandparents of classmates as they told their stories first-hand. Interestingly enough, I never thought that learning that Jewish lives mattered meant my life didn’t. I never thought that being of German descent meant that I was to blame for what Germans did in the middle of the century. Maybe my teachers then were better than teachers now. Or, more likely, maybe we were just more interested in facts than in being defensive. Maybe we thought that history should be told as it happened, rather than as we wished it would have happened.
I learned, however, that many Americans opposed going to war against the Nazis. I get it – I don’t like war either. I learned that America refused many Jewish immigrants entrance into this country who were fleeing the horrors of the gas chambers. I learned that a large number of Americans refused to believe that Germany could be involved in something so evil. It isn’t what you think, we were told… But it was. In fact, it was worse. Germans applauded Hitler as he helped their economy. Most Germans were convinced that Jews, Romas, and Homosexuals were a danger to their nation and needed to be controlled, even imprisoned. Anyone who had read “Mein Kampf” knew what Hitler was planning, but they just ignored it, telling themselves and each other that it isn’t what you think it is…But it was.
And unlike the neo-Nazi/White Supremacist movement in this country, there were a few good people in Germany fighting against the evil that was overwhelming them. One of my heroes, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, was sent to the gas chamber to die, and he was a Lutheran pastor and professor. The Confessing Church worked against the growing demonic tide and were told to stop overreacting – it isn’t what you think it is…But it was. The loss of rights – the desire for purity – the fear of change and difference; all were at play then. And they are at play all over the world now. These forces of destruction are in this country too. And we are being told that it isn’t what you think it is…But it is. The people who entered the Capitol Building 3 years ago were looking to overthrow the government. They wanted to kill Vice President Pence. They refused to believe the outcome of the election. The attacked police officers and ransacked offices. They committed crimes and mayhem. Don’t believe the lies. Because it is exactly what we think it is.
Prayer – Holy God, keep us from delusional thinking, and help us to keep our democracy. Show us the truth about ourselves. Amen.