First, I would like to warn the reader that this exert will contain a graphic, disturbing, heartbreaking, and beautifully touching scene. I am writing it because I feel it is important to read. It contains what is most beautiful and what is most horrifying... the worst and the best of humanity.
It is taken from a World War II biography of a Famous Mormon (famous to Mormon's anyway), Hugh Nibley. Hugh Nibley was a genius, he spoke several different languages including ancient Egyptian (to me that is certain proof of genius, any dead language takes some mental exertion.) He has published several books all of which help me to see the world, the gospel, and the future just a little bit differently. During World War II he served in intelligence and was part of the group famously known as the "Band of Brothers", one of the first to drive onto the shores of Normandy on D-Day, literally he made and drove a water proof jeep onto the beaches. I love his biography, it draws you in without being horribly graphic, it is thought provoking and inspiring, truly amazing.
This is from the testimony of Gustave Gilbert
"Without screaming or weeping these people undressed, stood around in family groups, kissed each other, said farewells, and waited for a sign form another SS man, who stood near the pit, also with a whip in his hand. During the 15 minutes that I stood near I heard no complaint of plea for mercy. I watched a family of about 8 persons, a man and a woman both about 50 with their children of about 1, 8, 10 and 2 grown-up daughters of about 20-24. An old woman with snow-white hair was holding the 1-year-old child in her arms and singing to it and tickling it. The child was cooing with delight. The couple were looking on with tears in their eye. The father was holding the hand of a boy about 10 years old and speaking to him softly; the boy was fighting his tears. The father pointed to the sky, stroked his head and seemed to explain something to him. At that moment the SS man at the pit shouted something to his comrade. The latter counted off about 20 persons and instructed them to go behind th earth mound. Among them was the family which I have mentioned. I well remember a girl, slim and with black hair who, as she passed close to me, pointed to herself and said, "23." I walked around the mound and found myself confronted by a tremendous grave. People were closely wedged together and lying on top of each other so that only their heads were visible. Nearly all had blood running over their shoulders from their heads. Some of the people shot were still moving. Some were lifting their arms and turning their heads to show that they were still alive. The Pit was already two-thirds full. I estimated that it already contained about 1,000 people. I looked for the man who did the shooting. He was an SS man, who sat on the edge of the narrow end of the pit, his feet dangling into the pit. He had a tommy gun on his knees and was smoking a cigarette. The people, completely naked, went down some steps which were cut in the clay wall of the pit and clambered over the heads of the people lying there, to the place to which the SS man directed them. They lay down in front of the dead or injured people; some caressed those who were still alive and spoke to them in a low voice. Then I heard a series of shots. I looked into the pit and saw that the bodies were twitching or the heads lying motionless on top of the bodies that lay before them."
From the book (Alex Nibley)
"Here again the paradox: is it possible a picture so hideous and painful can be such a portrait of human love and dignity. As I read this I think of what Hugh Nibley said about war and the way he lived and I ask myself: given my choice, would I rather be the SS guard or a member of that loving family going to their death? Is it only in the face of death that we come to understand life? Is it possible to find peace in the battlefield? Is it possible for a soldier to renounce war, even as he obeys his officers and shoots at the enemy?... He hated war and volunteered to fight. The objective was not to take himself out of the war, but to take the war out of himself."
Viktor Frankl: ... it did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life- Daily and hourly. Our answer must consist, not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual.
It is after reading this book and The Hiding Place that I decided that you could decide to be happy no matter what was happening. Maybe it isn't any easy choice and it is never a matter of just flipping on a light switch within that illuminates and creates a lasting happiness that is not diminished by the hourly pace of life. But rather the ability to make a decision, no matter the circumstances, to believe that you are not the victim but the person in charge of who you are and become, what you do, feel and think. And if at first it is not possible just by the strength of your will, then make a decision to search out for those things (The Savior, medicine, counseling, yoga...etc, etc) that will enable you to make the decision to be happy and peaceful, in control of the core essentials of human being... your thoughts and your feelings.
I should add... hastily... that I do not mean to imply that these people were happy... but rather they were able to maintain hope, dignity, beauty, humanity, love... all good things.. all things which lead to happiness...so... it is my translation... they were able to maintain these things despite the worst that could happen to a human being... could I not learn to be happy in my circumstances which are some of the best this world and the people in it have experienced?... this is my Personal application
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