I'm Grateful That I'm Not Like Them

© 2002 Boaz Rauchwerger

I was there by myself. Watching the film clips in an informal theater. The benches were made of concrete. They were purposely designed not to be comfortable. The images on the screen weren't comfortable to watch. They weren't designed to be. After one particular image, tears came to my eyes. Here's why…

A few years ago, during a business trip to Washington, DC, I visited the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Some of you know that my mother lost her parents and brother in the Holocaust. One of my uncles spent six months in a concentration camp.

The Holocaust Museum is housed in a four-story building on Wallenberg Place, not far from the White House. At the beginning of the tour, each visitor is given a little booklet that tells the story of someone who perished in the Holocaust. That booklet is to be carried throughout the visit to the Museum. The tour actually begins on the fourth floor. Then visitors work their way down to the first floor, where the informal theater is.

The exhibits were moving, shocking, touching. Although I was moved by the top three floors, I must admit to you that I observed everything I saw with an emotional distance between me and my relatives who had lost their lives in that horrific event. After all, that happened 60 years ago.

It all came home emotionally at the end of the tour, in the theater. As I sat on the concrete bench, film clips were being run of survivors talking about their experiences in the concentration camps. One of those clips made me cry.

A man told the story about seeing a friend of his in the concentration camp praying in the middle of the day. Orthodox Jews pray at the beginning and at the end of the day. But not usually in the middle of the day. So he asked his friend what he was doing. The friend said, "I'm being grateful to God." "Grateful to God?" the man said. "What could you be grateful to God for in the middle of hell?" His friend's response was profound. He said, "I'm thanking God that I am NOT LIKE THEM!" That's when tears came to my eyes.

Some people have the ability to find something to appreciate, even in the middle of something horrible. It is truly a choice. Now, whenever I get upset when something doesn't go my way, I have a little talk with me. I remind myself that, no matter how many challenges I have, there are many people in the world who would gladly change places with me.

Talking about changing places, I learned something incredible when I visited my uncle Bennie in Vienna, Austria, a couple of months ago. He told me about his brother, my Uncle David, and what happened to him in 1939.

My father came from a large family. He and his brothers grew up on a street named Denisgasse in Vienna. In 1935 dad, at the age of 21, traveled to Palestine to help build a Jewish homeland. Sometimes in the next two or three years, my Uncle Ziggi immigrated to the United States.

It was on a horrific day in 1939 that Christal-Nacht took place. That was the night in Europe that the Nazis burned synagogues and Jewish stores, killed many Jews and took thousands to concentration camps. My Uncle David, the oldest of the brothers, was taken away and transported by train to the Dachau Concentration Camp, just west of Munich, in Germany.

He had been imprisoned for six months when my Uncle Ziggi was able to get Uncle David out. He was somehow able to make arrangements, through Switzerland, to pay $300 in bribe money to free Uncle David. He paid $300 to literally buy his brother's life. $300, in 1939, was a lot of money. But then, how much is a life worth?

This incredible incident, as I heard it from my Uncle Bennie in Vienna a few weeks ago, was amazing to me. I had never heard it before. It really brought home what people can accomplish when they are determined.

And that is the bottom line of this week's newsletter - Determination. A man praying in a concentration camp and showing appreciation that he is NOT LIKE THEM. And a brother who valued his brother so highly that he was willing to do whatever it took to buy his life.

Next time you and I are faced with a challenge, let's decide that we'll find something in the situation to appreciate. If someone is unfairly hateful to us, let's appreciate the fact that we're not like them.

Keep this important thought in mind: The universe closes down to resentment and opens up to appreciation. You want more success and prosperity to come into your life? Be sure that you're answering the call by opening the door labeled APPRECIATION.

A Daily Appreciation Affirmation

I appreciate all of the good things in my life.