God in Auschwitz

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Throughout the entire time reading this book all I could think about was how people use concentration camps as a way to prove that God doesn't exist. While yes, what the Nazis did was terrible, I never knew the Jews were given breaks from work for any reason, especially for injuries. While the showers may have been pointless they were provided. I couldn't help but think that through everything they went through God was right next to them helping them every step of the way. The Germans did everything they could to dehumanize the jews yet God still helped by showing them a way of bartering to get what they need. Even with all the theft and beatings and starvation and terrible healthcare, survival was possible, just extremely hard. They learned incredible ways to stay alive like being able to know their shoe size just by looking at the shoe. The remarkable ability to learn so many languages simply by being in such close quarters with so many different people. Don't get me wrong, Auschwitz was no paradise but at least God did not abandon his people.




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Comments

Eliza Colbert said…
Yes, God was there and he helped His people, but I feel like most Jews would not see their newfound ability to judge shoe sizes as an act of God. While I agree with your assessment, I think it's hard to make these theological statements when we have no experience with this sort of thing. We have only heard stories; we have no idea of the reality of the horrors these people faced and the hopelessness they felt because of it.
February 3, 2020 at 11:44 AM
Rachael Gregson said…
Osten, now that you mentioned this, I now can see a connection between this and the last book we read, Silence. In both, even during the acts of evil and sin, God was orchestrating His plans, bringing good out of what the devil intended as bad. I, however, have to say that not all the Jews probably had this mindset when they were starving or beaten. There were probably a lot of them who renounced their faith. In a time like this, it's extremely difficult to stay hopeful.
February 3, 2020 at 1:24 PM
Breanna Poole said…
While I agree with the thesis of your post Osten, I can't help feel like the way you're describing this makes it sound like the Jewish people and other prisoners were somehow in the wrong for not noticing these things and being more grateful. While I'm sure this was not your intention, that is the way it reads, and I think that is a harmful mindset to have. They went through conditions that are incomprehensible to us, so we can not begin to grasp helplessness they may have felt. These kinds of statements I feel like might need more explanation that what you have given. But I do agree with the crux of you argument!
February 3, 2020 at 2:36 PM
Jamie Peters said…
It really has never occurred to me, with reading any type of Holocaust book, that God would still be a part of it. It does provide comfort to me in the face of my worries, but I don't know what I would do in the midst of the turmoil that Levi is describing. I noticed that he hasn't mentioned God once yet in his book, and I think that is significant. While it is a nice thought to have, how many people would be able to confidently say that they could keep their faith in the midst of the torture like in the Holocaust? It is something for us to think about, and it should be considered by everyone who reads this.
February 3, 2020 at 2:49 PM
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