Monday, September 14, 2009

Holocaust Hero - What We Should Learn From Him


What can we learn from the holocaust? There are infinite lessons, but one we do not often see is the story I will tell you now.

A very humble, once young, 100 year old man organized a "kindertransport", which was ultimately responsible for rescuing hundreds of Jewish children from Nazi occupied countries in 1939. What is most amazing about this man's, Sir Nicholas Winton's, story is that he saved the lives of all these children without ever telling anyone, not even his wife, for almost 50 years, until 1988.
This story is beautiful and both heartbreaking and heartwarming, and to me, rings a loud and clear message.
To me this message of Sir Winton's story is this: we can and should seek out and do work without looking for the reward. No matter what your religious upbringing or practice, helping others without asking anything in return is a universal "golden rule" in itself. Much like mothers caring for their newborn children, we ask nothing in return from our children. However in the end analysis, ask any mother and she will say she received benefits and blessings immeasurable through the sacrifice she made to birth and care for her child. It would be no surprise then, that serving others, as the old adage goes, truly IS the surest way to help ourselves. And would the world not be better if we weren't all constantly striving, like crabs in a bucket, to serve our own needs?

Instead, may we selflessly strive to serve others. This week, may we, myself included, seek to do good for others without using the "what's in it for me" mentality.

For the full story click here or cut and paste this link in your browser: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32689095/ns/world_news-europe/

*photo of kindertransport in 1939 (Institute of Comtemporary History & Wiener Library Limited)

1 comment:

  1. excellent!!! bravo!!!! (imagine me standing on my desk chair and applauding loudly!) this is by far one of life's most important lessons, followed by forgiveness...if you ever want to do a story about forgiveness, you should check out eva kor's story on www.theforgivenessproject.com/stories/evakor

    i've blogged about her...she's a big part of the inspiration behind my new blog Never Again!

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