On April
9th, 1945, today 74 years ago, Dietrich Bonhoeffer
was executed in concentration camp Flossenbürg, only two weeks before its
liberation by the U.S. Army.
Some years
ago, I bought this small booklet “Worte für jeden Tag”, with quotes and
extracts from Bonhoeffer’s work. His writings bear witness to an enormous
spiritual strength. It is amazing how a single man could show such individual resistance
against a totalitarian system. To overcome the internal doubt and the fear and
yet keep following the right path requires a huge faith.
We should not admire
Bonhoeffer because of his forlorn fate; his enemies had determined this for him.
We should admire him for his spirituality, for being consequent in his resistance
against mainstream
and his incredible persistence. Even if we can’t condemn people for not having
had his strength at that time, the attitude of Dietrich Bonhoeffer is the only
real weapon against new successful types of barbarism.
Belonging
to a protestant church himself, Bonhoeffer somehow unites Christians of all
traditions. Many Catholics cherish his words and venerate him like a saint. Let
us hope he will at least receive his deserved attention next year, when the end
of the war will be 75 years behind us. Beatus vir qui sperat in eo - Blessed is the man who puts his hope in Him.
I refer to “The
Siren Songs of Simplicity” and to my Dutch blogs: “Titus
Brandsma” and “Hannah
Arendt”.
No comments:
Post a Comment