Wednesday, February 14, 2018

How Do You Tell A Boy About Evil?

Dear JJ,

We took a trip and stopped in Berlin, Germany. I had to wonder - how do I tell you about evil? You hear about it in fairy tales, but what and when do I tell you?

How do I tell you that the place you are dancing was once where the Nazis burned books and imposed censorship upon one of the most literate peoples of the planet?


How do I tell you that this place you are taking a photograph has had two tragedies with it?


One is this church - bombed out from World War 2 - left as a symbol of a war that reduced Berlin to rubble.


This memorial next to it is where a person killed innocent people who were shopping, using his car as a weapon to promote another ideology of hate - ISIS. 



How do I explain that this photo I am having you stand in front of is the only time that the tanks of the United States and the USSR were lined up against one another and we narrowly avoided a World War that would have been the end of the planet?



How do I tell you that the monument you are enjoying is called the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, when just recently a friend of yours said that because your daddy is Jewish he will be going to where "all the monsters are."


How do I tell you that we, against a powerful government that is evil are like this: alone, naked, and needing help?


How do I explain that this wreath represents where five soldiers were shot because they wanted to end a brutal dictatorship?


I will tell you, and you will learn, but most of all this photo, taken next to a panel by Checkpoint Charlie,  reminds me that you are our hope. That "a little child will lead them."

Love,

Dad