Author Elie Wiesel, a Jew, gives a deeply moving reflection on the Good Friday reality of God’s presence in the following account of an episode in a Nazi concentration camp:
One day when we came back from work, we saw three gallows rearing up in in the assembly place. Roll call! SS all around us, machine guns trained; the traditional ceremony. Three victims in chains — and one of them, the little servant, the sad-eyed angel. The SS seemed more preoccupied, more disturbed than usual. To hang a young boy in front of thousands of spectators was no light matter. The head of the camp read the verdict. All eyes were on the child. He was extremely pale, almost calm, biting his lips. The gallows threw its shadow over him . . . The three victims mounted together onto the chairs. The three necks were placed at the same moment within the nooses. “Long live liberty!” cried the two adults. But the child was silent.…
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