'To Bless All Mankind' September 11, 2017 Issue

Today’s heroism

Mark Swinney

Originally published in The Christian Science Monitor, May 30, 2017.

To acknowledge today’s heroes, and to do so publicly, is certainly important, both to honor them and also to inspire us to look at our own opportunities to stand strong in difficult trials. Earlier this year, The Christian Science Monitor reported that the US State Department had presented 13 women from around the world with the International Women of Courage Award. They were honored for “their demonstrated courage and leadership in the face of adversity” (see article on the facing page).

Heroes often are nearer to us than we realize. It wasn’t until later in life that I found out my grandfather is considered a hero. In the 1940s, soldiers came to his home, captured him, and sent him to a camp because he had been helping Jewish families escape Nazi Germany. He worked in that camp as a laborer, digging wide trenches designed to keep Russian tanks from entering the country. About two years later, surprisingly, he was released and returned to his family; he then worked as a lawyer.

When I was in the ninth grade, I asked about the details of my grandfather’s life; nothing was said about what he did for those Jewish families, or of his time as a prisoner. It was many years later, when the movie Schindler’s List came out, that my mother told me of his incredible heroism.

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