Hebrew Highlights 112 – Holocaust Day
For
this program, I’d like to point out that here in Israel we observe “Holocaust
Memorial Day”. Let me give you a brief
history of the Holocaust.
Between 1933-1945, the Nazi German government tried
to eliminate the Jewish people and other minority groups in Europe. The Nazis
killed nearly 6 million Jews, including 1.5 million children. There were
approximately 3 million Jews left in Europe out of the over 9 million who lived
there before the Holocaust. In some countries,
a major portion of the Jewish population was wiped out. For instance, in Poland, 91% were
killed; in Greece, 87%, in Lithuania,
85%, and in Romania, 84%. The horrible
list goes on and on.
As soon as Hitler took power in 1933, the German
government passed laws to remove Jewish people’s rights as citizens.
Ultimately, in German-occupied Europe, the Jews were forced by law to live in
specific zones within the cities, called ghettos. From there, the Nazis
moved many Jews to labor camps and death camps.
Here are some statistics you may not have heard
before. In addition to Jewish people,
the Nazis targeted other minority groups. This included Gypsies, the disabled,
political dissidents, Jehovah Witnesses, male homosexuals, and Soviet prisoners
of war. In December of 1942, a single Nazi decree ordered Gypsies from all over
Europe to be deported to the death camp in Auschwitz. When they arrived, 16,000
were immediately murdered. Throughout the Holocaust, the Nazis killed about 7
million non-Jews.
All together, the Nazi regime killed 13 million
people. Some groups would tell you these
numbers are an invention of Zionists.
Actually, the Germans themselves systematically documented the
deaths. Every number has a corresponding
name. If anything, there were possibly
more murders, which were not written down.
These crimes finally ended when American troops overpowered the Nazis in
the year 1945. Many of the survivors were forced to go to Displaced Persons
camps because their homes and families had been destroyed. Children were hidden
in orphanages throughout Europe, while their surviving relatives struggled to
find them. The world has attempted to punish many of the Nazi war criminals.
Many were tried during the Nuremberg Trials. However, some of these Nazi
officials are still in hiding today.
There are people in the world who say, “That’s all
ancient history. Why bother me with it
today?” Well, Adolf
Hitler may have committed suicide on April 30th, 1945, but there are
other evil men in the world, and other holocausts wait to happen.
Remember 1st Peter 5:8, “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your
adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to
devour.”
Here in Israel, many have said, “It is too bad
President George W. Bush wasn’t around in the late 1930’s, when Hitler was
amassing weapons, and making his evil schemes.”
Yes, it’s true.
By dethroning Sadam Hussein, President Bush,
and Prime Minister Tony Blair may have stopped the next holocaust. May God continue to give them wisdom, and
bless them for their bold and heroic moves.
Until next time, please pray for us here
in Israel’s eternal capital. I honestly
don’t pretend to understand how God’s roadmap for peace will work out,
but I do know that your supplications will help.
Shalom,
Shalom from Jerusalem