Charles Colson in his book, The Body, gives a vivid description of the horrors that took place during World War II at a place called Auschwitz. It is here that trains arrived regularly loaded with Jews and others who were regarded by Nazi Germany to be worthless — and they were quickly exterminated.
Every time a trainload of prisoners arrived they were told to take off their clothes, enter a large building labeled “BATHS,” and take a shower that would delouse them. They had no idea that the Nazi orderlies would drop small quantities of blue crystals into the sealed rooms from above containing a potent poison. The panicked victims would quickly vomit, suffocate, empty their bowels on the concrete floor, and die. Their cities were to be erased and their industry appropriated for Germany.
By 1941 Auschwitz was working like a well-organized killing machine, and the Nazis congratulated themselves on their efficiency. Earlier methods of execution – mass shootings, gas dispersed into vans, and lethal injections — had been less efficient. They made it difficult to effectively dispose of the corpses. But Auschwitz was working like clockwork. The camp’s five chimneys never stopped smoking. The stench was terrible, but the results were efficient. Eight thousand Jews could be stripped, gassed, cremated, and their possessions appropriated for the Reich – all within twenty-four hours – every twenty-four hours.
To the Nazis, the Jews and Slavic peoples were subhuman. They had to be exterminated and gotten out of the way. One of those taken prisoner was a Catholic priest named Maximillian Kolbe. He had clearly and strongly objected to what the Nazis had in mind. Thus, he was arrested and carried to Auschwitz.
One July night the air at Auschwitz was suddenly filled with the baying of dogs, the curses of soldiers, and the roar of motorcycles. A prisoner had escaped from Barracks 14. Camp Commandant Fritsch ordered all the prisoners in Barracks 14 to stand in line. Hours passed. The summer sun beat down. Some of the prisoners fainted and were dragged away. Some were beaten with the butts of guns. Fritsch began to speak, the veins in his thick neck standing out with rage. “The fugitive has not been found,” he shouted. “Ten of you will die for him in the starvation bunker. Next time, twenty will be condemned.”
One prisoner who had been condemned to die groaned, sweating with fear. “My poor wife! My poor children! What will they do?” As the ten doomed prisoners began their march toward the starvation bunker suddenly there was a commotion in the ranks. It was the frail priest, Father Maximillian Kolbe. “ When Commandant Fritsch asked him what he wanted, he said, “I want to die in the place of one of the ten men.” When asked which, he pointed to the man who had bemoaned his wife and children who was now crying.
Thus, Maxilillian Kolbe entered Barracks 11 with the other condemned men prepared to die. As he did so, he said to the Commandant, “Christ died on the cross naked. It is only fitting that I suffer as He suffered to gain the glory He gained.” He took off his clothes as he was ordered to do, entered Barracks 11, and died.
Jesus said, “Greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command” (John 15:13-14). You have likely never been to Auschwitz, and probably would not go if you were given the option of doing so. However, the important question is this: Have you ever been to the hill called Calvary? If you haven’t, it is a journey well worth putting on your schedule.
I highly recommend it.
The Paper Pulpit 