Participants: John Bradshaw
Series Code: IIW
Program Code: IIW001278
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00:04 [Theme music] >: It has stood the test
00:08 of time. 00:09 God's book, the Bible, 00:16 still relevant in today's complex world. 00:21 It Is Written, sharing hope around the globe. 00:38 [Music] JB: The little town 00:40 of Oswiecim has a history reaching back to the earliest 00:43 centuries of Polish statehood. 00:45 Destroyed during the Mongol invasion of the year 1241, 00:50 it was rebuilt and eventually given a new charter 00:52 in September of 1291. 00:55 The town flourished during what is known as the Polish 00:58 golden age, which lasted from the 15th to the middle 01:01 of the 17th century. 01:04 When it was eventually annexed by the Habsburg 01:06 empire, it received its German name, Auschwitz, 01:11 the name history will forever remember. 01:15 Among the 999 women on the first female transport 01:19 to Auschwitz on March 26, 1942, was 21-year-old Rena Kornreich. 01:26 She was the 716th woman brought here. 01:30 Rena had seen enough of war in occupied Poland, where she 01:34 was from, to understand something of what to expect 01:37 from her oppressors. 01:40 But she was unable to fathom their relentless cruelty. 01:44 [Music] RK: How we're going 01:47 to find our suitcases later? 01:49 I figure, I'm a human being, I have a right to ask. 01:54 "Get in line and shut up," he yells at my face, pointing 01:57 his gun at me. 02:00 The hair on my skin bristles. 02:02 He doesn't see it that I'm a human." 02:05 JB: Two days after that first transport, Danka, 02:09 Rena's younger sister, was also brought to this place, 02:13 where together they would spend the next three years 02:17 of their lives as slaves of the Third Reich. 02:20 In her memoir, "Rena's Promise," Rena Kornreich 02:25 writes vividly about her experience here. 02:28 RK: Mama, I brought you the baby back. 02:32 I repeat it over and over in my head. 02:36 It is the refrain to the song that keeps me strong 02:40 and healthy and spirited: Mama, I brought you the baby back. 02:46 My one great feat in life, my fate, is to survive 02:50 this thing and return triumphant with my sister to our parents' 02:54 house. 02:55 My dream cannot be marred by German whips or chains 02:59 or rules. 03:01 I will succeed because I have no other choice. 03:06 Failure does not occur to me, We may die in the interim-death 03:13 cannot be avoided here-but even that will not 03:16 dissuade me from my sole purpose in life. 03:20 Nothing else matters but these four things: be with Danka, 03:26 be invisible, be alert, be numb. 03:31 The floor is dirt. 03:35 There are no bunk beds here; there are shelves, wood 03:39 planks, three tiers high. 03:41 We are supposed to sleep here? 03:46 Where are the mattresses? 03:47 Our beds look like horse stalls. 03:51 There is a sour smell of human odor. 03:53 There are rags for blankets. 03:57 We stand, squeezing our bread in our hands, unable to cope, 04:02 unable to move. 04:04 A girl begins to cry. 04:07 Like fire in a stable her fear grabs us, and like dried 04:15 straw we burn inside. 04:18 Tears cannot quench these flames of disaster. 04:22 We are lost. 04:24 This is Birkenau. 04:28 JB: Birkenau was a sister camp to Auschwitz 04:31 where the women were sent; 1.3 million people were deported 04:36 to Auschwitz-Birkenau. 04:38 1.1 million of those died. 04:40 Ninety percent were Jews. 04:44 One of the most famous Auschwitz survivors was Elie 04:48 Wiesel, who wrote about his experiences in books 04:51 such as "Night." In 1986 he was awarded 04:54 the Nobel Peace Prize. 04:55 On May 6, 1944, 16-year-old Elie arrived with his family 05:00 at this train station, along with thousands of others 05:07 deported by the Nazis from the Jewish ghettos of Sighet, 05:11 Romania. 05:12 Separated from his loved ones upon arrival, he would lose 05:16 three of his siblings and his father to the horrors 05:19 of this place. 05:22 Eventually he'd be transferred to the concentration 05:24 camp at Buchenwald, where he would remain 05:27 until his liberation by the U.S. 05:29 Third Army on April 11, 1945. 05:33 [Music] Wiesel became one 05:38 of the world's most noted Holocaust survivors 05:41 and lecturers, an advocate for peace and global 05:45 reconciliation. 05:46 He devoted his life to Holocaust remembrance, 05:50 with the hope of avoiding a repetition of its horrors. 05:56 His great theme was "never again," a laudable theme, 06:01 a dream worth pursuing. 06:04 But is it just a dream? 06:08 Is humanity destined to repeat the horrors 06:11 of the past, to reclaim the depths of inhumanity, 06:15 of cruelty? 06:17 Was the Nazi era an aberration, or is there something so amiss 06:23 in the human condition that we can expect even greater 06:27 insanity in the future? 06:31 Down through history there have been many tyrants. 06:34 Way back in the Old Testament, Pharaoh was willing 06:37 to practice mass infanticide against the Hebrews. 06:41 In Jesus' day, wicked King Herod ordered the extermination 06:46 of the baby boys in Bethlehem. 06:48 And in the book of Esther, Haman plotted the destruction 06:52 of the Jews, and even convinced the king to go 06:56 along with his plans. 06:58 What Auschwitz reveals is that history has a habit 07:04 of repeating. 07:06 When we look at the Bible, does the Bible suggest 07:09 that sort of thing can happen again? 07:14 Shockingly, the answer is yes. 07:18 More in just a moment. 07:23 [Music] >: In Matthew 4:4 the Word 07:27 of God says, "It is written, man shall not live by bread 07:30 alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth 07:34 of God." "Every Word" is a one-minute Bible-based 07:37 daily devotional presented by Pastor John Bradshaw 07:41 and designed especially for busy people like you. 07:44 Look for "Every Word" on selected networks, or watch 07:47 it online every day on our website, itiswritten.com. 07:51 Receive a daily spiritual boost. 07:53 Watch "Every Word." 07:54 You'll be glad you did. 07:56 Here's a sample. 08:00 [Music] 08:06 JB: Abraham Lincoln's son Robert was on a railway 08:09 platform in Jersey City, New Jersey, when he slipped 08:12 between the platform and a moving train. 08:14 But someone behind him grabbed his coat collar 08:16 and lifted him to safety on the platform, saving him from 08:18 serious injury and possibly death. 08:21 The man who saved young Robert Lincoln was Edwin 08:24 Booth, the brother of John Wilkes Booth, who later murdered 08:28 President Lincoln. 08:29 The brother of Lincoln's assassin saved Lincoln's son. 08:32 Coincidence? 08:33 Well, you decide. 08:34 But when God is at work in our lives, that's Providence. 08:39 Ecclesiastes 11:5 says, "As you do not know what 08:42 is the way of the wind or how the bones grow in the womb 08:45 of her who is with child, so you do not know the works of God who 08:49 makes everything. 08:50 Even when you don't see it, God is at work. 08:53 Where some see coincidence, you can know God was there. 08:56 Let's live today by every Word. 08:59 [Music] JB: Planning for your 09:01 financial future is a vital aspect of Christian 09:04 stewardship. 09:05 For this reason, It Is Written is pleased to offer free 09:08 planned giving and estate services. 09:11 For information on how we can help you, please call 09:14 1-800-992-2219. 09:17 Call today, or visit our special website, 09:20 www.hislegacy.com. 09:25 [Piano music] 09:30 JB: This is It Is Written. 09:31 I'm John Bradshaw. 09:32 Thanks for joining me today. 09:33 It was once a peaceful village in the midst of the lush 09:37 landscape of the Polish countryside. 09:40 Today, it's remembered as the site of one 09:43 of the greatest horrors of human history. 09:47 It was here at the notorious death camp known as Auschwitz 09:51 that the Nazi industrialization of death 09:56 was perfected. 09:57 [Ominous music] Behind the rows of barbed wire 10:01 scarring this beautiful countryside, 10:04 it's estimated that 1.3 million Jews and hundreds of thousands 10:09 of others met their death, through gassing, starvation, 10:15 barbaric medical experiments, and other forms of inhuman 10:19 treatment. 10:20 Although 1.3 million people passed through the gates 10:26 of Auschwitz-Birkenau, barely 7,000 people were found still 10:31 alive when the liberators arrived. 10:34 Those liberating soldiers found warehouses stuffed full 10:38 of loot that had been stolen from the inmates. 10:41 They also found 350,000 men's suits, 837,000 women's suits, 10:50 and perhaps most macabre of all, bags stuffed full 10:55 with 7.7 tons of human hair, which was intended 11:01 for commercial purposes and would be used 11:04 in the manufacture of furniture and other goods. 11:10 The Auschwitz extermination complex was big. 11:13 There were three main camps: Auschwitz 1, the administrative 11:17 center and holding camp for prisoners destined 11:20 for the other two camps, as well as the final 11:23 destination for Polish political prisoners 11:25 and Soviet prisoners-of-war. 11:30 The second camp, Auschwitz 2, Birkenau, was the extermination 11:33 facility, where well over a million human beings 11:37 were systematically gassed. 11:39 US Army Film Narrator: Hanging in orderly rows were 11:42 the clothes of prisoners who had been suffocated 11:45 in a lethal gas chamber. 11:46 They had been persuaded to remove their clothing under 11:51 the pretext of taking a shower for which towels 11:53 and soap were provided. 11:55 This is the brausbad, the shower bath. 11:59 Inside the shower bath, the gas vents. 12:02 On the ceiling, the dummy showerheads. 12:06 In the engineer's room, the intake and outlet pipes, 12:09 pushbuttons to control inflow and outtake of gas, a hand 12:15 valve to regulate pressure. 12:17 Cyanide powder was used to generate the lethal smoke. 12:21 From the gas chamber the bodies were removed 12:24 to the crematory. 12:25 [Music] JB: In August of 1944, 12:32 during the extermination of Hungarian Jews, 12:35 it's believed that as many as 24,000 people were gassed 12:40 and cremated in a single day. 12:42 [Ominous music] The third 12:46 of the Auschwitz camps, Auschwitz 3, Monowitz, 12:51 was a slave labor complex dominated by a large chemical 12:55 plant. 12:56 As many as 48 satellite camps were set up as part 12:59 of the Auschwitz network. 13:01 They were staffed by about 6,000 SS personnel. 13:05 What SS chief Heinrich Himmler would term the "final solution 13:12 to the Jewish question" began with mass killings 13:16 carried out by specially selected squads known 13:18 as the einsatzgruppen. 13:21 They followed the German army in the initial invasion 13:23 of the Soviet Union, rounding up Jews and prominent Soviet 13:27 officials in captured towns and cities for immediate 13:31 execution. 13:32 The prisoners would be forced to stand in front of large 13:35 pits. 13:36 They were executed by shooting and buried 13:39 in those pits soon afterward. 13:41 But the psychological effect on the execution squads 13:45 was terrible. 13:46 And so the Nazis began experimenting with more 13:49 efficient ways of killing masses of people. 13:53 They settled on hydrogen cyanide gas. 13:57 And the first gassings took place in Auschwitz 14:00 in September of 1941. 14:02 Rudolf Franz Ferdinand Hoess, commandant of Auschwitz, 14:09 and later executed here at the scene of his crimes, 14:13 said in his testimony at the Nuremburg trials 14:15 in 1946 that Heinrich Himmler personally ordered him 14:21 to prepare the Auschwitz facilities for the ultimate 14:24 phase of the so-called "Final Solution." 14:28 In Hoess' words, "In the summer of 1941 14:34 Himmler told me that the Fuhrer had given the order 14:37 for a final solution of the Jewish question. 14:40 We, the SS, must carry out that order. 14:44 If it is not carried out now, then the Jews will later 14:49 on destroy the German people." 14:51 On January 20, 1942, a special conference 14:56 was convened by SS leader Reinhart Heydrich, acting under 15:01 orders from Heinrich Himmler and Adolf Hitler. 15:05 The conference was held in this building. 15:07 Fifteen high-ranking Nazis were at the meeting, 15:11 representing each of the major governing ministries 15:13 of the Third Reich. 15:15 One participant at the conference was Adolf 15:17 Eichmann, who would soon be designated by the SS 15:20 leadership as the formal director of the Final 15:24 Solution. 15:25 It's interesting that every man at the conference had 15:28 a Ph.D. It's evident that even intellect and academic 15:31 achievement are no safeguard against the worst kind 15:34 of cruelty and evil and against the depths of the evil 15:38 of human nature. 15:43 At this meeting, Eichmann presented lists of how many 15:46 Jews were living in Europe, a total of 11 million. 15:51 The Final Solution, Heydrich and the others decided, 15:54 would deal with all of them. 15:57 From a biblical perspective, what does Auschwitz suggest 16:00 to us today? 16:02 Yes, the human heart can be desperately wicked when God's 16:05 fear and love have been removed. 16:08 But if something like Auschwitz could happen then, 16:11 could it possibly happen again? 16:14 The Bible speaks to that. 16:16 I'll have more in just a moment. 16:18 [Music] 16:26 JB: "Eyes for India" is giving sight to the blind, 16:29 and you can be a part of this amazing work that God 16:32 is doing. 16:33 Fifteen million blind people live in India, more than any 16:36 other country in the world. 16:38 And many of the blind in India could see again if only 16:41 they could have simple cataract surgery. 16:44 It Is Written is making that happen. 16:47 Would you support "Eyes for India"? 16:50 For just $75 you'll be giving the gift of sight to someone 16:54 who desperately wants to see. 16:57 Here's all you need to do. 16:58 Call 1-800-253-3000 to donate and support "Eyes for India." 17:09 Or you can write to It Is Written, Box O, 17:12 Thousand Oaks, CA 91359. 17:16 You'll also find "Eyes for India" online at 17:19 itiswritten.com. 17:21 Every $75 you give gives someone the precious gift 17:24 of sight. 17:26 "Eyes for India"--doing the work of Jesus in opening 17:29 the eyes of the blind and opening hearts to the love 17:32 of God. 17:33 Call 1-800-253-3000 or write to: 17:38 Box O, Thousand Oaks, CA 91359, or visit itiswritten.com. 17:48 JB: These are the actual ruins of a gas chamber 17:50 and a crematorium here at Auschwitz-Birkenau. 17:54 The horror crafted by this grotesque exercise 18:00 in human evil simply defies the imagination. 18:04 That human beings could do to other human beings 18:07 the things that were done here, it's almost impossible 18:11 to believe. 18:13 You search for the words to describe the scope, 18:16 the magnitude of the evil perpetrated here. 18:21 And you discover those words simply don't exist. 18:24 Israel Guttman, a young fighter who survived the Warsaw 18:30 ghetto uprisings of 1943, observed that Hitler's 18:34 concept of absolute personal power reached its fully 18:38 extent here in the Nazi death camps. 18:41 Certainly the Nazi attempt to exterminate the Jews 18:45 and other people besides in the enlightened 20th century 18:50 demonstrates that absolute power without absolute 18:54 holiness is one of the most dangerous things imaginable. 18:58 [Ominous music] In the decades since Allied 19:02 armies tore open these gates and set the captives 19:05 free, the civilized world has repeatedly and piously 19:09 vowed, "Never again." 19:11 Unfortunately, the intervening time has only 19:14 proven that "the heart is deceitful above all things 19:17 and desperately wicked." 19:18 That's Jeremiah 17:9. 19:19 Since the body of Adolf Hitler crumbled to soot outside 19:25 his Berlin bunker, bloodthirsty tyrants like Joseph 19:29 Stalin and Pol Pot and so many others have reenacted 19:33 versions of what the Nazis did. 19:39 Many of the lessons that cry out to us from the ruins 19:41 of the gas chambers and the crematoria, intellectual 19:45 culture, the highest education humans can afford, 19:50 they are no safeguard against the evils that lurk 19:53 in the unconsecrated human heart. 19:56 It's true that one of the brightest minds 19:58 ever created led the rebellion against God in heaven. 20:03 That original rebellion, which introduced to this world 20:06 sin with all its attended misery, including the train 20:11 tracks here and the barracks and the barbed wire. 20:16 Another lesson is the wisdom of paying attention to early 20:20 warnings of trouble. 20:22 The Jews of Germany and the rest of Europe didn't 20:24 take the Nazi threat seriously until it was far too late. 20:29 Many of Hitler's victims were certain that intellectual 20:31 advancement had left superstition and intolerance 20:35 in the dustbin of history. 20:40 But there's an old saying that suggests history 20:43 repeats. 20:44 As inconceivable as it was, Auschwitz is not the only 20:48 example we have of wholesale inhumanity. 20:51 It's easy, sadly easy to think of other examples 20:55 of murder and killing and violence, of genocide, 20:58 of terrorism, which, while they might not be on the same 21:02 scale as Auschwitz, they suggest to us, 21:05 they demonstrate to us that the spirit of Auschwitz 21:09 lives on in the lives of tyrants and mad men, 21:12 in the eyes of people with an ideology so twisted 21:16 that somehow the most depraved actions are justified. 21:21 Now, think with me for a moment about what the Bible 21:24 says is ahead for planet Earth. 21:27 In Revelation 13:1, John sees a beast rising up out 21:32 of the sea. 21:33 Not a dinosaur, a beast. 21:35 What would that beast be? 21:37 Several times, the prophet Daniel tells us that a beast 21:42 is a symbol used in Bible prophecy to represent 21:46 a kingdom or a nation. 21:47 So in Revelation 13:1, John saw the rise of a nation. 21:53 And it would be a mighty nation. 21:55 [Music] Verse 2 tells us Satan 22:00 gave this nation great power, and verse 3 says, "All the world 22:05 marveled and followed the beast." Whatever 22:09 this is would blaspheme against God and would persecute God's 22:13 people. 22:14 You read that in verses 6 and 7. 22:16 And Revelation 13:8 says, "All who dwell on the earth 22:21 will worship him." Then verse 12 says that a second beast 22:25 causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship 22:29 the first beast. 22:32 An ideology so strong, believed so radically 22:36 that those committed to it are prepared to enforce it. 22:40 And how far will those behind this movement actually go? 22:45 Here's Revelation 13:15: "He was granted power to give 22:49 breath to the image of the beast, that the image 22:53 of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would 22:57 not worship the image of the beast to be killed." 23:01 Verse 17 says that those who don't yield to this movement 23:05 won't be able to buy and sell. 23:07 A movement very similar to what was witnessed during 23:10 the Nazi reign in Germany. 23:13 But this time, a worldwide movement, built around 23:17 a religious ideology. 23:20 We've seen many times, even in fairly recent history, 23:23 that there are plenty of people willing to take the lives 23:26 of others who won't fall in line with a certain religious 23:29 ideology. 23:31 And so what do we say? 23:32 Do we say, oh, there's no way that could happen. 23:35 Educated, cultured people just won't act that way. 23:39 History demonstrates to us that just sticking your head 23:43 in the sand won't make something go away. 23:46 Auschwitz took place under the noses of the world. 23:49 The world looked on; it was really happening. 23:52 What's coming is coming. 23:55 A time of real crisis for those who won't cave in to 23:58 the ideology that's demonstrated in Revelation, 24:01 chapter 13. 24:03 Those who are faithful to God will find themselves 24:06 on the wrong side of the crisis down in the close of time. 24:11 So what do we do? 24:12 How do we respond to this? 24:13 Do we panic? 24:14 Oh, that's just pointless. 24:15 Living in fear isn't going to help. 24:18 Jesus gave us some good advice. 24:20 It's advice that we should follow. 24:22 You find it in Luke 21:28: "Now when these things begin 24:27 to happen, look up and lift up your heads. 24:30 Because your redemption draws near." If ever there was a time 24:35 to look up, this is it. 24:38 Look up. 24:39 Faith in Jesus will see you through any crisis 24:42 that this world brings. 24:44 It's true, there's a time of crisis before the world. 24:48 History is littered with crises. 24:50 But Jesus says if you have faith in Him, He'll get you 24:55 through the crises in your life today, He'll get you 24:58 through whatever difficulty you're facing, He'll be there 25:01 to walk with you wherever you are right now, and Jesus 25:06 has pledged to be with you during the crises to come. 25:10 That's why I'd like to offer you a very special book today. 25:13 It's a book that I've written called "Revelation Today." 25:17 "Revelation Today" will help you understand the great 25:21 prophetic movements of Earth's final days. 25:23 And I want you to have this book. 25:26 I wrote "Revelation Today" so that it would be easy 25:28 to understand and yet powerful, unfolding the major 25:32 prophecies concerning the final movements of Earth's 25:35 history. 25:36 To get your free copy of "Revelation Today" from It Is 25:40 Written, call 1-800-253-3000 and ask for "Revelation 25:46 Today." That number to call is 1-800-253-3000. 25:52 If the line is busy when you call, please, keep calling. 25:55 Your call will be answered. 25:58 Or you can write to us at It Is Written, Box O, Thousand 26:03 Oaks, CA 91359, and we'll mail a copy to your address 26:08 in North America. 26:10 Also be sure to visit our website, itiswritten.com, 26:14 where you'll discover additional helpful resources 26:16 on a host of life-changing topics. 26:24 JB: It Is Written is a faith-based ministry made 26:25 possible by the support of viewers like you. 26:28 Thank you for your letters and your e-mails. 26:30 Thank you for your prayers. 26:32 And thank you for your financial support. 26:34 Your financial support makes It Is Written possible. 26:38 Thank you for letting God use you to support It Is Written. 26:43 I'd like to pray for you. 26:45 There are challenging times ahead for planet Earth. 26:48 But through faith in Jesus we can meet those challenges 26:52 and look forward to the future with confidence. 26:55 Let's thank God for that confidence together. 27:02 Our Father in Heaven, thank you that we can face 27:05 the uncertain future with confidence. 27:08 There is such great evil in the world; we've seen 27:10 that again today. 27:11 But we thank you for One who is above the evil, we thank 27:14 you. 27:15 The Bible says, "Greater is he that is in you than he 27:18 that is in the world." Give us faith in Jesus today 27:21 and tomorrow, a faith that will see us out of this world 27:23 and into the world to come. 27:26 We thank you and we pray in Jesus' name, Amen. 27:35 [Theme music] 27:49 Thank you for joining me today. 27:51 I look forward to seeing you again next time. 27:53 Until then, remember, "It is written, 27:58 man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word 28:00 that proceeds from the mouth of God." 28:05 [Theme music] |
Revised 2015-02-05