A German-speaking boy was often physically
abused - beaten by his father for
the smallest thing he ever did wrong. The
father did not call him by his name. Instead,
whenever the father wanted the
boy to come to him, he whistled for him,
as if his son was a dog.
Sometime later, the boy discovered that
his grandfather (whom he hardly knew)
was Jewish. In his twisted way of thinking,
he thought that his grandfather’s
“Jewishness” somehow must be the reason
why his father was so cruel and nasty
towards him.
Having been insulted and abused by his
father, the boy grew up with strange
views about himself, and with strange
views about Jewish people. This boy was
Adolf Hitler.
After leading Germany and Europe and
much of the world in devastation and
war, costing the lives of so many people
(including millions of Jews), Adolf Hitler
committed suicide on this day in 1945
in his bunker deep under the ruined city
of Berlin.
Let us pray in silence for a moment, thinking
of all who died during that war…
(pause…)
Let us pray for all who suffer
from hatred and prejudice,
from abuse and ill-treatment,
and for all who are victims
of other people.
Let us pray, too,
for the people of violence,
that they may change their ways
and learn to respect others.
Let us pray for ourselves,
that when we face
what is negative or evil
we may have
the courage and generosity
to break the cycle of violence,
taking responsibility
for the direction
in which we want our lives to go.
Let us pray
that we may always do to others
as we would wish them to do to us.
Amen.
