I know the following to be true, now whether or not the idea came from General Dwight Eisenhower I don't know. When Travis and I were in Germany last year we spent a day at one of the larger former concentration camps, Dachau, which is just outside of Munich. It was the most informative, saddest, en lighting and hardest day on our trip, especially leaving through the gate that most Jews and Christians a like entered through that had words in German "WORK MAKES YOU FREE" on the gate. These people were told that if they worked hard enough they could one day be free again, yet just a lie to give them a glimpse of hope. There are posted pictures all through the memorial site of what it looked like when the American troops liberated Dachau in April 1945. Those pictures were disturbing and vivid. I can still see them in my mind, especially those taken of the gas chamber filled to the top of skeletal bodies. I remember one of the captions under the picture noting that the American Army made people from the town of Dachau walk through the camp those first few days, just so they could see what exactly had been going on right under their noses. If you ever make it over to Germany or Poland, make seeing a Concentration Camp the utmost priority!!!
The following is from the e-mail I got -
It is a matter of history that when Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces, General Dwight Eisenhower, found the victims of the death camps, he ordered all possible photographs to be taken, and for the German people from surrounding villages to be ushered through the camps and even made to bury the dead.
He did this because he said in words to this affect 'Get it all on record now - get the films - get the witnesses - because somewhere down the track of history some one will get up and say that "this never happened" All that is necessary, for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing'
The picture above is of the cremation room. This was actually the 2nd one they built because they couldn't keep up with all the dead. They cremated the bodies for 2 reasons: 1) they were running out of pits for mass graves and 2) towards the end of the war they were trying to hid evidence. The photos and guide also described that they used the rafters above to hang the prisoners before they were cremated. They were marched into this room...naked (didn't want to waste the clothing on the dead) and hung from the rafter only a few feet from where they would be cremated.
The iron gate is left open, but this is the entrance into Dachau. The very same entrance that all prisoners were brought through, some who never were able to see the other side of again. The words on top of the gate read "Arbeit lässt Sie befreien" which means "Work makes you free"
Plaque outside the Memorial
Going back even further in time.....Too bad their weren't any films or photos of the accounts from the Bible and who Jesus is and what He did. Only the eye-witnesses and their accounts. Guess that is why John 20:29 says - Then Jesus told him (Thomas, one of the disciples) "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." God wants you to believe in him and trust Him WITHOUT experiences that prove Him. I'm not trying to compare believing in Christ to believing in a government and the decisions they make. Just the opposite. Believing is Christ is eternal salvation; believing in a government is depending upon another sinner, it's hard enough depending upon myself...another sinner.
How about I stick to what I know and that is my little guy. Here are some pics so I don't leave you with a somber mood for the day ;-)
JT at 3 weeks of age
JT 11 months old....wow, how they change!
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