A Witness to Hope

The perseverance of those who live for something, or someone greater than themselves is astounding.
In my reading of the book Priestblock, by Father Jean Bernard, and in other research I have done on the matter, I can see the clear difference in very terrible circumstances between those who are going on without hope, and those who have placed their hope in the only One who can ultimately offer us deliverance from every evil.

The treatment of those dedicated to the Lord's service by men of evil intent and malicious hearts should not really surprise us, but it is shocking nonetheless. The recounting of the horrors to which priests and others of like mind were subjected is sobering. It shows us that there is a certain methodology at work that seeks to de-humanize those who are dedicated to the process of humanizing their fellow man. What I mean by that, is that the servants, or rather, the slaves of the evil one see the threat posed to their plans, and they seek with ruthless vigor to quash those plans. Considering the treatment received by those in the Priestblock at Dachau, it is quite clear that the mindset of the Nazi regime saw the Catholic faith, and priests in particular as very real threats.

There is another point of interest that I would like to make. We hear quite often of the supposed silence of the Catholic hierarchy, and especially Pope Pius XII during the war. While the evidence of their actions, often not verbal in nature, contradict this, there is nonetheless an interesting point to draw from this accusation. We read in the book by Fr. Bernard that there were often severe reprisals directed solely at those in the Priestblock, and that there was often seemingly no rhyme or reason for such treatment. What was supposed, and what became eventually more clear over time, was that these reprisals, often involving hideous torments, were in retaliation for perceived harshness or words of condemnation directed at the Nazi regime on the part of the hierarchy or the Holy Father himself. We know that the Holy Father became aware of such retaliations in response to his condemnations and pronouncements. We also know that essentially a carbon copy of this situation occurred more than once with the Jews. Is it really any wonder then that the Holy Father and his Bishops saw it to be a wise course of action to refrain from speaking overmuch regarding such atrocities. They clearly saw that it was more productive and prudent to work for the relief of those suffering by other means, often clandestine, away from the international stage of political commerce.

I also did some further reading on the various camp officials at Dachau. One who stands out in my mind is Martin Sommer, an officer with the SS. He was known as the "hangman of Dachau". Reading accounts of his sadistic nature is frightening. It shows me that it is really possible for a man who was originally created for the good, that is, to be with God forever, may, by his own choices, become so aligned with the purposes of evil as to become nothing more than a pawn in the hands of satan. For many reasons I have a difficult time understanding how so-called Catholics can deny the existence of personified evil, and one of the main reasons is that for a man to devolve to the level of such a malicious beast without the aid of preternatural realities, is beyond me. I also recount that one of the times that Fr. Bernard most recalls coming into contact with such demonic realities was by means of personally witnessing the pleasure some of the guards and head prisoners took in torturing and terrorizing their fellow man. In considering the "special treatment" the priests received, we can see that although the powers of darkness harbor a special hatred for all faithful Christians, their desire to see the downfall of priests is particularly ravenous.

What else can I say about such a thing as the torture of human beings? Does it cause the mind to recoil? Yes. Does it witness to man's inhumanity to his fellow man? Yes. Does it cause me to doubt Divine Providence and the fact that our God is before all else our loving Father? No, but it does tempt me in that direction, I must admit. However, I remind myself that the Lord made it very clear that if the world persecuted Him, it would persecute us. I am reminded here of the part of the twelfth chapter of the book of Revelation, wherein it is recounted that after the Male Child had been taken up to God's throne, and the Woman had been given the wings of the great eagle to fly to a place of refuge in the desert, the red dragon then went on to make war against all of the Woman's offspring, namely those who witness to and keep the commandments of Jesus.

I was also very touched that even in such a dark place as Dachau, where evil seemed to reign as if victorious, Jesus was still present. He was present through the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, He was present when any of the prisoner priest absolved another of their sins, and He was present wherever charity and forgiveness and hope reigned in the heart of one of his children, whether they were a priest or not. Jesus was present whenever there was one man to help another to carry the burdens of daily life in such conditions. Jesus was also present whenever there was the need for encouragement to persevere, and that word of hope arrived when the despairing person needed it most.

To borrow a line from Catholic novelist Michael D. O'Brien's book "Father Elijah", "The essence of hope is to look into the darkness of the twentieth century, and to see there the victory of Christ".