Reader Comments on Forgiving Doctor Mengele
by Greg Mackie. Read the article.
I am so moved by this story I can't seem to stop the tears. What a lesson. As a very young woman I lived in Germany. Being of German descent I had done a great deal of research on the Nazi era and arrogantly thought I "knew" the subject. I was so naive.
One Saturday I was taken to Dachau on an outing with some other American friends. It was in February and bitterly cold. Snow and ice were everywhere. There were few people there. I was shocked by the overwhelming horror of the place. There was a Jewish woman dressed in black wailing at the meat hooks the people had been hung from awaiting death.. She was weeping and wailing the entire time we were there. My tour guide couldn't wait to show me the ovens. There were still bloodstains.....An old German man came running up to us because we had not paid our entrance fee to see this horror. I did not realize I had raised my arm to assault this man until my companion grabbed my arm. I was unable to see everything I was so distraught. I had to go and stand by the exit door and wait for my host to finish the tour with the other Americans. At the door there was a large book and in it were comments from other people who had visited Dachau over the years. There were several more books from previous years on the floor under the stand. I had to distract myself so I started reading the comments. They were written in many languages. I could only read the English, French and German comments. There was such rage, pain, bewilderment in the comments. The shock that these people had felt upon seeing the camp was extreme. I identified with them all. How did this happen? How had the world looked the other way? All of those questions were almost smothering me. How anyone survived and continued their lives was beyond my comprehension. We had an hours drive home and the car had to be stopped three times for me to vomit in the snow. The other two American couples didn't understand why I was so upset. It was days before I was anywhere near normal. I wept, I cursed. I was hostile to my German neighbors. I was a mess.
I have never forgotten that day and it was 40 years ago. To read of this woman's forgiveness takes me to my knees. This is a powerful story of forgiveness. What a lesson for me as I struggle with forgiveness over social slights, family problems, business issues. My God this woman is an amazing blessing.
Thank you.
—Barbara Blair
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