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Stories of World War II Europe make the horrors more real By Rachelle Linner, Catholic News Service To understand a period as complex as World War II and the Holocaust we need to read both trained historians and ordinary men and women. Historians provide a broad overview and an understanding of context but it is only individuals who can communicate the intimate details of what it is like to endure the suffering of mind, body and soul that is the reality of war. Personal narratives can elicit the empathy and identification that move the reader to compassion and insight. The book under consideration, while not among the central Holocaust narratives, is important in fleshing out our knowledge of those terrible years. Luxembourgian Father Jean Bernard (1907-1994) was a prisoner in the Dachau concentration camp from May 1941 to August 1942. “Priestblock 25487” was originally published in a newspaper series in 1945 and was loosely adapted into the acclaimed 2004 German film, “The Ninth Day.” Father Bernard’s factual narrative is direct and explicit reportage and as such it gives a brutally honest recitation of what it was like to endure the clergy barracks of Dachau. It is difficult to imagine how people managed to endure these depths of misery: physical and emotional torture, starvation, disease, unceasing cold, hard physical labor and merciless guards. Moreover, conditions could, and often did, change radically. At the whim of sadistic guards and the camp commandant, rations were cut and prisoners were assigned to more dangerous or useless work details, or forced to undergo collective punishment exercises. Father Bernard does not offer theological reflections on his experience but in a luminous passage he describes participating in his first Mass at Dachau. “‘Hoc est corpus meum.’ I look at the two bits of bread in my hand, and as the one for whom we are suffering all this comes into our midst, as in their hearts hundreds of priests join their offering with that of the Savior, tears roll down my cheeks. It becomes a single offering that certainly creates new ties between heaven and earth.” It is because of his suffering that Father Bernard has the right to call on us not to forget, but to forgive. “We must forgive while remaining conscious of the full horror of what occurred, not only because nothing constructive can be built on a foundation of hatred ... but above all for the sake of him who commands and urges us to forgive, and before whom we, victims and executioners alike, are all poor debtors in need of mercy.” Linner, a freelance writer and reviewer, lives in Boston. | |
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Books recommended in the Advance: | |
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If you wish to purchase a book from Amazon.com through the Catholic Advance, please use the link above. (A small percentage of the purchase price will be returned to the Advance.) We suggest you copy the ISBN number and use that number to search Amazon for the book.* | |
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God’s Doorkeepers: Padre Pio, Solanus Casey and Andre Bessette | Parish Priest: Father Michael McGivney and American Catholicism | |||
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*You may also order books from Catholic Arts & Gifts (316) 263-4981 or from Eighth Day Books at (316) 683-9446. | |
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