The U.S. and the Holocaust - Ken Burns

[Akita Suggagaki]

Episode Guide | The U.S. and the Holocaust | Ken Burns | PBS

I watched the first episode last evening. It is chilling how popular Hitler was. But then, antisemitism was a world wide issue. Many countries were hesitant to receive Jewish refugees even though they were being persecuted in German controlled areas.

 

[Akita Suggagaki]

The U.S. and the Holocaust Episode 2
“Yearning to Breathe Free” (1938-1942)
As World War II begins, Americans are united in their disapproval of Nazi brutality but divided on whether to act. Some individuals and organizations work tirelessly to help refugees escape. Meanwhile, Charles Lindbergh and isolationists battle with Roosevelt to try to keep America out of the war. Germany invades the Soviet Union and secretly begins the mass murder of European Jews.

 

[Akita Suggagaki]

This gets harder and harder to watch. Lining up Jews naked in a ditch and shooting them by the tens of thousands. One survivor said he could not believe it was happening to him. How could he tell others and expect them tp believe. It is unbelievable but not for the pictures and films which the Nazi's made to show off what they were doing.

 

[Akita Suggagaki]

But the main question that comes to me concerns the sustained faith of the Jewish people. They were being exterminated. It was unbelievable. Where was God's protection, love, and help. Perhaps some of the Psalms helped them. Psalms of lament.

Faith that withstands terror is no ordinary faith. For most of us faith is icing on the cake....until we also have our own personal moments or even days, weeks and years of dark terror.

I marvel at the Jewish faith that has survived.