[October 20, 2021] Early yesterday afternoon, I received a call from a friend named David. He is the son of an Auschwitz Concentration Camp survivor. It’s his dad’s story I want to tell today. The stories of Jews leading up to and during WWII give us lessons about powerful governments. His dad’s story, in particular, in the halls of Nazi slave labor, is legendary
David had called me to say he purchased several copies of my recent book (found on Amazon here) and that he found my book to have a “story on every page” and an enjoyable read. Several years ago, David and a group of friends had cobbled together a group of like-minded folks to honor those “women and men killed in 9/11 and those who served.” The monument was built north of Houston, Texas and has become a popular place to honor our fallen heroes.
Our conversation drifted to his parents and how they met in occupied Germany after the war. His dad, Gorsch, had been freed from the Auschwitz Camp. From his dad, he told the story of how working in German factories, he would sabotage the Nazi war effort. Gorsch was a man of considerable talent even at 17 when he was sent to the concentration camps.
The Nazis took the youngest, strongest, and most intelligent of the Jews and put them to work. The rest, they killed, especially the very old and children. The extermination program was extended to other “undesirables” in German society and our world learned a great deal about what happened much later. This story is only one of the millions like it.
When sent to a factory to build bombs for the German Luftwaffe (their Nazi Air Force), Gorsch was put on the floor to install fuses. This is a dangerous job because the fuse is the ignitor that causes the bomb to explode with devastating effects. Wanting to help weaken German military effectiveness, he would do what he could.
At the risk of his own life, Gorsch installed all the bomb fuses backward, making every bomb a dud. When used, the bombs would not explode. “Every bomb was a dud.” Quoting his dad, “I made sure I did my part.” Just imagine a 17-year-old kid taking it upon himself, without encouragement or direction, to sabotage the Nazi war machine at the risk of his life.
The more we learn about those Jews and others that the Nazis thought were the “ Der Untermensch” (Nazi term for non-Aryan “inferior people”), the better off we all are. Today, we read about Americans that are “deplorables” living in “flyover country.” We would best take a lesson from David’s dad and not regard ourselves as superior to others, despite what our political class tells us today.
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Please read my newest book, “Our Longest Year in Iraq,” at Amazon (link here).
I’ve not been on this leadership website long but from what I read and the comments in this forum, I’m liking it more and more. Thanks to all here today that help make me a better person by giving me more things to really think about.
Hi Boy Sue, the long you are here the more mature ideas you will pick up. You will also find this forum a great place to learn without a bunch of trolls messing things up.
Welcome, Boy Sue. Enjoy!
Gen. Satterfield has an article today in his daily favorites that shows what happens when ordinary people do not speak up when there is a problem right in their mist. The same things happened in Nazi Germany. Let’s learn lessons from these people and not repeat the mistakes of the 20th century.
https://www.spiked-online.com/2021/10/19/the-hate-that-dare-not-speak-its-name/
Hey, Gen. Satterfield, do you have a book signing coming up this weekend? Best of luck. I live too far away or I’d be there. It would be great to meet you in person.
Yes, I do have a book signing at the Historic Smithville Inn, located in Galloway, New Jersey. Everyone is welcome. And, while there, you can have lunch in a great restaurant.
Wow, thanks and good luck!
I wish I could be there too. You will also have others around you with similar stories like today. Great story today, BTW, I loved it (not the horror) but the tale of courage. General Satterfield continues to keep us all on track intellectually. It’s up to us to carry out what makes us better folks.
I enjoyed today’s story. You have told them before. More of us should read about the slave labor in Nazi Germany and the concentration camps too. We have it too good today.
These are the kind of stories I like to read about and Gen. Satterfield brings them to us, occasionally, and makes sure we get the main lessons from them. Those lessons involve the traits of heroes and, I would hope, that we copy. Today, he told the story of a Jew who was captured by Nazi Germany and put into a concentration camp. The horror is beyond our imagination, yet we follow the same path today of government power and socialism. The end result will not be pretty.
The only difference today is that our Democratically elected leadership is making our situation worse and blaming us for it. Therefore, it follows, that we will be punished for our “failures.” Lock us in our homes and “show your papers” when out and about.
Right! ……. and that is why they are afraid of guns. They are afraid we might push back.
Great comments. 👍
Yeah, thanks Greg and Harry. The fear of guns in the hands of independent people who think differently is a scary proposition for the socialists who have taken over our country. Okay, vote them out next time but that won’t work if they again cheat their way to the top. Destruction is the end result and we don’t want that.
Fantastic story. I admire your friends dad.
COURAGE ….. his dad must have had a set of brass balls.
Yep, great story. Keep these coming, Gen. Satterfield.