"When I was a little older, I noticed my dad did not express his
feelings as openly as some people, and I remember my mother trying to
explain to me that as a young boy, my father learned to hide his
feelings. He had learned that his persecutors in Germany were less
abrasive if he didn’t respond to their actions against him.
When I was a teenager trying to “find myself,” I realized much of my personal insecurities could be traced directly back to the fact that I was the child of a Holocaust survivor."
---Jonathan Bernd—Why I Cannot Keep Silent
http://thatjewdiedforyou.com/jonathan-bernd-son-of-hans-bernd/
My parents also suffered atrocities during WW2. My dad didn't talk about it but my mom did. My mom was angry and bitter, and held on to her resentment for many years. When my mom came to Christ, she learned her need to forgive the people that hurt her in her past. God provided wonderful opportunities to her to heal that anger.
All of us have had things happen to us with which we struggle to find that place of forgiveness. I like what Jonathan Bernd says in the above piece, that forgiveness is not the same as forgetfulness. We can forgive and still remember, in fact we must remember. The two (forgiveness and forgetfulness/remembrance) are not intertwined, and can both be handled separately. I am sure Jesus remembered what was done to Him on the cross at Calvary, He remembers all things, and yet He forgives.
When I was a teenager trying to “find myself,” I realized much of my personal insecurities could be traced directly back to the fact that I was the child of a Holocaust survivor."
---Jonathan Bernd—Why I Cannot Keep Silent
http://thatjewdiedforyou.com/jonathan-bernd-son-of-hans-bernd/
My parents also suffered atrocities during WW2. My dad didn't talk about it but my mom did. My mom was angry and bitter, and held on to her resentment for many years. When my mom came to Christ, she learned her need to forgive the people that hurt her in her past. God provided wonderful opportunities to her to heal that anger.
All of us have had things happen to us with which we struggle to find that place of forgiveness. I like what Jonathan Bernd says in the above piece, that forgiveness is not the same as forgetfulness. We can forgive and still remember, in fact we must remember. The two (forgiveness and forgetfulness/remembrance) are not intertwined, and can both be handled separately. I am sure Jesus remembered what was done to Him on the cross at Calvary, He remembers all things, and yet He forgives.
