I recently ran across an interesting article on another remembrance during the month of November - an additional way to remember our faithful departed. As I read the article, I could only remember my grandparents, unmarried youth at the time, who fled eastern Europe (Lithuania) in the early 20th century, and eventually settled in Chicago. The rest is of course family history.
Why they fled, and the horrific aftermath, yet with shining lights of hope, was the rise of the Communist oppression that began to reach its tentacles out with the most nefarious intentions. It was the beginning of the "Russian Revolution" and the appearance of such monsters as Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin were poised to dominate all of Europe and with grandiose hopes, the world itself. Throw in an additional beast such as Adolf Hitler and you have a mix in which I believe the grand Evil One was directly influential. Thanks be to God my grandparents and millions of others found refuge in this Country and other parts of the world, escaping when they could. Families left behind, depending, suffered various fates.
The link to this article is below. It not only speaks clearly about the takeover but more importantly speaks of the eventual defeat of Communism in 1989. There were heroes in the death camps such as St. Maximilian Kolbe, St. Teresa Benedicta (Edith Stein), Pope St. John Paul II who has been credited with being a major force in the overthrow of the suffering he lived under in Poland, and certainly countless other whose quiet but significant witness to hope in the darkest of all darkness was known by many. Those who hid the hunted Jews in underground bunkers, Oscar Schindler in Germany who employed many in his factories and saved them from extermination, etc., etc.
If you want to see an inspiring and true movie that speaks of such an event, see "The Zookeepers Wife."
So, as we continue our daily remembrance of all the faithful departed, remember what happened in November and all those who suffered greatly. In the quiet of what might seem hopeless, our faith, our God brings hope that conquers all.
Peace
Why they fled, and the horrific aftermath, yet with shining lights of hope, was the rise of the Communist oppression that began to reach its tentacles out with the most nefarious intentions. It was the beginning of the "Russian Revolution" and the appearance of such monsters as Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin were poised to dominate all of Europe and with grandiose hopes, the world itself. Throw in an additional beast such as Adolf Hitler and you have a mix in which I believe the grand Evil One was directly influential. Thanks be to God my grandparents and millions of others found refuge in this Country and other parts of the world, escaping when they could. Families left behind, depending, suffered various fates.
The link to this article is below. It not only speaks clearly about the takeover but more importantly speaks of the eventual defeat of Communism in 1989. There were heroes in the death camps such as St. Maximilian Kolbe, St. Teresa Benedicta (Edith Stein), Pope St. John Paul II who has been credited with being a major force in the overthrow of the suffering he lived under in Poland, and certainly countless other whose quiet but significant witness to hope in the darkest of all darkness was known by many. Those who hid the hunted Jews in underground bunkers, Oscar Schindler in Germany who employed many in his factories and saved them from extermination, etc., etc.
If you want to see an inspiring and true movie that speaks of such an event, see "The Zookeepers Wife."
So, as we continue our daily remembrance of all the faithful departed, remember what happened in November and all those who suffered greatly. In the quiet of what might seem hopeless, our faith, our God brings hope that conquers all.
Peace
Another remembrance for November:
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