THE EMPTY CHAIRS | Frank Becker

Written by Florida Senator John Grant, Retired

Week Twenty-Eight, 2019

THE EMPTY CHAIRS

“As soon as he had received the piece of bread, Judas went out into the night” (John 13:30).

The memorial is in a square on the Jewish quarter of the City of Krakow. It is rather simple and consists of 33 empty chairs.

It is known as the Ghetto Heroes Square. The chairs are of iron and bronze. These chairs symbolize the tragedy of the Polish Jews. These inhabitants of Krakow were imprisoned in the Krakow Ghetto during the Second World War and the German occupation of Poland. And then afterwards losing their lives to the Germans on the premises of the ghetto and in several German death camps.

In March 1941 the Germans locked up all the Krakow Jews inside the recently-built ghetto. Over 20,000 people were living within the ghetto walls, where previously only 3,000 people had lived. That was a terrible existence, but worse came when they were herded onto overloaded box cars bound for the death chambers in Auschwitz and other concentration camps.

The Kraków Ghetto was one of five major, metropolitan Jewish Ghettos created by Nazi Germany in the new General Government territory during the German occupation of Poland in World War II. It was established for the purpose of “exploitation, terror, and persecution” of local Polish Jews, as well as the staging area for separating the “able workers” from those who would later be deemed unworthy of life.

As I was standing in the square alongside one of the chairs, I could only imagine the atrocity of what occurred. I wondered if it could ever happen again. Then my bride standing with me reminded us of the atrocity of today’s abortions.

The taking of a life is the taking of a life, whether in the gas “baths” of a concentration camp or in the “treatment” room of an abortion clinic in the name of “health”. What’s the difference? The taking of a human life is murder. In the USA, 686,000 abortions were reported. That’s 188 abortions per live birth. Every year in the world there are an estimated 40-50 million abortions. This corresponds to approximately 125,000 abortions per day. If that’s not genocide, then what is?

While we are quick to castigate the Nazi genocide of the Holocaust, do we not today tolerate or even support abortion on demand right in our own back yard?

Christians must stand up and speak out about the modern-day abortion holocaust. Will you and you and you?

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SOMETIMES TRUE STORIES

The persecution and genocide of Christians across the world is worse today “than at any time in history,” and Western governments are failing to stop it, a report from a Catholic organization said.

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The study by Aid to the Church in Need said the treatment of Christians has worsened substantially in the past two years compared with the two years prior, and has grown more violent than any other period in modern times.

“Not only are Christians more persecuted than any other faith group, but ever-increasing numbers are experiencing the very worst forms of persecution,” the report said.

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TITUS SPEAKS TO US TODAY:

“Such people claim they know God, but they deny him by the way they live. They are detestable and disobedient, worthless for doing anything good. As for you, Titus, promote the kind of living that reflects wholesome teaching. Teach the older men to exercise self-control, to be worthy of respect, and to live wisely. They must have sound faith and be filled with love and patience. Similarly, teach the older women to live in a way that honors God. They must not slander others or be heavy drinkers. Instead, they should teach others what is good” (Titus 1:16 – 2:3).

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