What did Bonhoeffer know?
Dohnanyi told him that n, w, under the dark cover of war, Hitler had unleashed force that beggared description, that mad the usual horrors of war quaint things of the past. Reports from Poland indicated that the SS were committing unspeakable atrocities, things unherd of in civilized times. On September 10, a group of SS men had brutally overseen the forced labor of 50 Polish Jews who spend the day repairing a bridge. When the work was completed, the SS herded the workers into a synagogue and murdered them. That was only one example. On a widespread systematic level, the Wehrmacht advances in Poland were occupied by the intentional mass murder of civilians.
Dohnanyi’s primary source was his boss Admiral Canaris. It was so disturbing that Canaris insisted on meeting with Wilhelm Keitel, the head of the German military. They met in Hitler’s private railroad train on September 12, and Canaris questioned OKW chief about the peinious evils, which would destroy Germany. What Canaris could not have known at that civilized meeting was that it would continue and would get much worse. It would not only destroy Germany, but would do so more completely than he had ever dared to fear. The German culture and civilization that he, Dohnanyi, and Bonhoeffer knew and loved would be obliterated from history. Future generations would be convinced that nothing good could ever have existed in a country that produced such evil. They would think only of these evils. It would be as if these unleashed dark forces had grotesquely marched like devils on dead horses, backward through the gash in the present, and had destroyed the German past too.
“Bonhoeffer, Pastor, Prophet, Martyr, Spy” has been the most revealing read to me of this new decade if not even the last. Never did I learn more about the era between WWI and WWII than I have through this book. Thanks to Eric Metaxas’ masterful biography of the life and death of Dietrich von Bonhoeffer.
As a German I have been plagued for many years, why could a people so civilized and cultured commit such horrendous crimes. It is the country of the poets, thinkers and theologians. Now I’m not saying that Anti-Semitism never existed on German soil. This would be dishonest. But especially since Bismarck, Jews were very much part of the fabric of German society. Every walk of live had its Jews and they were just as much German as the rest of Germany. Some of them were amongst the wealthiest. Many sported a proud heritage of serving in the German Armed Forces. But this passage out of chapter 22 “The End of Germany” clearly demonstrates the damage Hitler’s atrocities left on the German nation. To this day we dare not do what we ought to do for German survival. Patriotism, Conservatism is considered fascist even so America has been known for it’s strong Patriotism and the many good this nation did to help the less privileged. When I mentioned to someone that it is sad to see our cities becoming a melting pot and the Germaness of it is less and less visible, I have been told that they do not dare to tighten their borders out of fear of being equated with Nazism. How damaging Hitler’s actions have been on our national psyche.
This is not to make lite of the Holocaust, not in the least. But if this book did not show me anything, it showed me that many people amongst the German officers and the upper class deeply despised Hitler and saw it necessary to get rid of this evil. Not just for the sake of Germany’s future, but also because of the evil, done to others who were not part of the “Aryan” people. As the book reveals, Bonhoeffer’s family knew much of the things that went on, years before the rest of the German people got to know about it. Bringing shame to multitudes including my own mother who was ashamed to show a green passport at America’s ports of entry and only in her later years realized that the typical German Lanzer was no worse or better than the GI Joe. It was Hitler’s worst of worst, the SS, SA, and every one else who in a normal society would not even have come to the power but under Hitler no one could be depraved enough not to be a viable tool in Hitler’s evil murderous machinery. Sadly enough, appeasers existed throughout history. If Neville Chamberlain (don’t want to call him a name) wouldn’t have agreed to Hitler’s invasion of the Sudetenland, Canaris and his men would have had every legal means to get Hitler on criminal charges and foremost for treason to the German people. I’m proud of each and every one who risk their lives to stand up in the face of evil. Whether it was to end Hitler’s rain through assassination or those that harbored Jews from the Nazis, some of them loosing their own lives in the wake of being found out.
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Christian Persecution
This is just another incident showing clearly Islam's Peace towards those of different faiths. THERE IS NONE! The story speaks for itself. Pray for Christians and Jews persecuted all around the world.
Nigerian Pastor’s Wife, Children among Christians Killed in Attack
Obed Minchakpu
May 12, 2011
KURUM, Nigeria (CDN) — As she lay on the ground after being shot and then slashed with a machete, Dune James Rike looked into her husband’s tear-filled eyes and asked, “Is this the end between us, so we shall not be together again?”
Pastor James Musa Rike told Compass he held the hands of his dying, 35-year-old wife and told her, “Hold on to your faith in Jesus, and we shall meet and never part again.”
Muslim extremists who attacked Kurum village, in the Bogoro local government area of Nigeria’s Bauchi state, had already killed two of the couple’s children in a rampage that began Wednesday (May 4) at midnight. Rike, pastor of a Church of Christ in Nigeria (COCIN) congregation in Kurum, next heard the cries of his 13-year-old daughter, Sum James Rike, a few yards away.
“I rushed to my daughter, only to discover that she too was cut with a machete on her stomach, and her intestines were all around her,” he said. “I held her hand and began to pray, knowing she too was about to die. She told me that the Muslim militants told her they would kill her and “see how your Jesus will save you.”
The girl told her father that she responded by telling them that Jesus had already saved her, and that by killing her they would only be making it possible for her to be with Him. Pastor Rike prayed for her as she died.
Shooting and setting homes on fire, the Muslim extremists killed 12 other Christians in the attack. Bauchi police reported 16 people dead – one man, three women and 12 children.
Pastor Rike said that when the attackers reached his house, they tried to force their way into their bedrooms.
“I opened a backdoor, and we ran out into the dark night while the militants pursued us,” he said. “They shot my wife and two of our kids as they tried to escape.”
Pastor Rike said that after killing the two children, Faith James Rike and 1-year-old Fyali James Rike, the assailants cut his wife’s abdomen with a machete.
"I was shocked at what I saw,” he said. “I knew my wife would not last long, and the only thing I did was to encourage her to hold on to her faith in Jesus.”
The Muslim extremists set more than 20 houses ablaze before leaving the village, he said.
Pastor Rike and his son survived the attack, and he said his adopted daughter, Whulham James Rike, was injured and receiving treatment at the General Hospital in Bogoro. He said five others others were also receiving hospital treatment.
Among those killed, church sources said, were Murna Ayuba; Angelina Ezekiel; Dorcas Sunday; Asabar Toma; Rhoda Joseph; Dhunhgwa Zakka; Bukata Amos; Ishaku Amos; Kalla Amos; Amos Daniel; Samidah Joel; and Changtan Joel.
The Muslim jihadists also stole money and the other valuables from the Christian village as they withdrew, church sources said.
The area has a history of sectarian violence, and the attack follows the death of hundreds of people in Bauchi and other northern states last month after Muslims rioted over the April 16 election of a Christian, Goodluck Jonathan, as president. He defeated a Muslim candidate, Muhammadu Buhari. Saying more than 200 church buildings were burned, Christian leaders in northern Nigeria have called for a federal probe into the violence, in which Christians mounted counter attacks.
Northern Nigeria climbed to 23rd place in 2010 from 27th in 2009 on Christian support organization Open Doors’ World Watch List of nations with the worst persecution.
The church where Pastor Rike ministers has about 30 members and has been in existence for more than 50 years. Those killed were members of the three churches in the village – the COCIN church, St. John’s Catholic Church and an Evangelical Church of West Africa congregation.
Pastor Rike said the incident has strengthened his faith in Jesus.
“Whatever is the situation, I will never forsake Christ,” he said. “All human beings are created by God, and our attackers must know that they need to abandon anything that will lead them to destroy creations of God.”
Nigeria’s population of more than 158.2 million is almost evenly divided between Christians, who make up 51.3 percent of the population and live mainly in the south, and Muslims, who account for 45 percent of the population and live mainly in the north. The percentages may be less, however, as those practicing indigenous religions may be as high as 10 percent of the total population, according to Operation World.
Copyright 2011 Compass Direct News. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Nigerian Pastor’s Wife, Children among Christians Killed in Attack
Obed Minchakpu
May 12, 2011
KURUM, Nigeria (CDN) — As she lay on the ground after being shot and then slashed with a machete, Dune James Rike looked into her husband’s tear-filled eyes and asked, “Is this the end between us, so we shall not be together again?”
Pastor James Musa Rike told Compass he held the hands of his dying, 35-year-old wife and told her, “Hold on to your faith in Jesus, and we shall meet and never part again.”
Muslim extremists who attacked Kurum village, in the Bogoro local government area of Nigeria’s Bauchi state, had already killed two of the couple’s children in a rampage that began Wednesday (May 4) at midnight. Rike, pastor of a Church of Christ in Nigeria (COCIN) congregation in Kurum, next heard the cries of his 13-year-old daughter, Sum James Rike, a few yards away.
“I rushed to my daughter, only to discover that she too was cut with a machete on her stomach, and her intestines were all around her,” he said. “I held her hand and began to pray, knowing she too was about to die. She told me that the Muslim militants told her they would kill her and “see how your Jesus will save you.”
The girl told her father that she responded by telling them that Jesus had already saved her, and that by killing her they would only be making it possible for her to be with Him. Pastor Rike prayed for her as she died.
Shooting and setting homes on fire, the Muslim extremists killed 12 other Christians in the attack. Bauchi police reported 16 people dead – one man, three women and 12 children.
Pastor Rike said that when the attackers reached his house, they tried to force their way into their bedrooms.
“I opened a backdoor, and we ran out into the dark night while the militants pursued us,” he said. “They shot my wife and two of our kids as they tried to escape.”
Pastor Rike said that after killing the two children, Faith James Rike and 1-year-old Fyali James Rike, the assailants cut his wife’s abdomen with a machete.
"I was shocked at what I saw,” he said. “I knew my wife would not last long, and the only thing I did was to encourage her to hold on to her faith in Jesus.”
The Muslim extremists set more than 20 houses ablaze before leaving the village, he said.
Pastor Rike and his son survived the attack, and he said his adopted daughter, Whulham James Rike, was injured and receiving treatment at the General Hospital in Bogoro. He said five others others were also receiving hospital treatment.
Among those killed, church sources said, were Murna Ayuba; Angelina Ezekiel; Dorcas Sunday; Asabar Toma; Rhoda Joseph; Dhunhgwa Zakka; Bukata Amos; Ishaku Amos; Kalla Amos; Amos Daniel; Samidah Joel; and Changtan Joel.
The Muslim jihadists also stole money and the other valuables from the Christian village as they withdrew, church sources said.
The area has a history of sectarian violence, and the attack follows the death of hundreds of people in Bauchi and other northern states last month after Muslims rioted over the April 16 election of a Christian, Goodluck Jonathan, as president. He defeated a Muslim candidate, Muhammadu Buhari. Saying more than 200 church buildings were burned, Christian leaders in northern Nigeria have called for a federal probe into the violence, in which Christians mounted counter attacks.
Northern Nigeria climbed to 23rd place in 2010 from 27th in 2009 on Christian support organization Open Doors’ World Watch List of nations with the worst persecution.
The church where Pastor Rike ministers has about 30 members and has been in existence for more than 50 years. Those killed were members of the three churches in the village – the COCIN church, St. John’s Catholic Church and an Evangelical Church of West Africa congregation.
Pastor Rike said the incident has strengthened his faith in Jesus.
“Whatever is the situation, I will never forsake Christ,” he said. “All human beings are created by God, and our attackers must know that they need to abandon anything that will lead them to destroy creations of God.”
Nigeria’s population of more than 158.2 million is almost evenly divided between Christians, who make up 51.3 percent of the population and live mainly in the south, and Muslims, who account for 45 percent of the population and live mainly in the north. The percentages may be less, however, as those practicing indigenous religions may be as high as 10 percent of the total population, according to Operation World.
Copyright 2011 Compass Direct News. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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