Pasts Which Do Not Fade

He was a little shrunken man.
You know:
Body bent by age,
Skin wrinkled and flaky,
Legs and hands shook constantly.

Like so many he sought to sell his coins.
Ill health is costly in this country.
The dealer started sorting through what was there.

But it was his eyes .....

I was just watching, people fascinate me.

"Uhm, Kris, can you translate this?"
I looked at the bronze disk in his hand.
The old man was shaking.
"What do you think it is worth?"
Literally, I was shaken.
I put the disk down and had to fight back tears.
As best I could, I croaked out that it was priceless.
They agreed on some sum and the old man left happy.

We watch him leave.
In a low voice the dealer asked, "What is it Kris?"
"It was a man's life, Paul ... his very soul."
The little Lithuanian man was almost out of sight now.
"What does that mean?"

So I explained one of most sought after WWII medals, because ALL men with one were summarily executed!
And six women as well.
A Star of David with
The words, "SONDERKAMMANDO"

And then the real test, whom was it issued to?

On the reverse, the highly stylized "SS" of Hitler's special units.
Often these were Jewish "volunteers".  (cough,cough)
The exterminators of their kinsmen.

This man was SS, assigned more than likely to Polnar (sp?), a Lithuanian Jewish extermination camp.
About 350,000 Jews were shot to death.
Dug up years later and cremated so the Russians would not find the burial trenches!
Eleven Jews survived Lithuania there.

"What should I do with it?", Paul whispered.
"Donate to a Jewish war museum or Holocaust Museum ..."

Yeah, it was those eyes .....
Haunted by decades of memories.
And the memory of failing his God.
Now he understood, unlike my father or uncle.
And he feared because he saw that I "knew".
But ...

Shalom, little man.
May your heart find peace,
With the Prince of Peace ....
This German understands.
This descendant of Hebrews will not condemn you.
This forgiven man, broken by God, hopes you read this ...