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October 06, 2007
Holocaust by Bullets
His subjects were mostly children and teenagers at the time, terrified witnesses to mass slaughter. Some were forced to work at the bottom rung of the Nazi killing machine — as diggers of mass graves, cooks who fed Nazi soldiers and seamstresses who mended clothes stripped from the Jews before execution.
They live today in rural poverty, many without running water or heat, nearing the end of their lives. So Patrick Desbois has been quietly seeking them out, roaming the back roads and forgotten fields of Ukraine, hearing their stories and searching for the unmarked common graves. He knows that they are an unparalleled source to document the murder of the 1.5 million Jews of Ukraine, shot dead and buried throughout the country.
He is neither a historian nor an archaeologist, but a French Roman Catholic priest. And his most powerful tools are his matter-of-fact style — and his clerical collar.
The Nazis killed nearly 1.5 million Jews in Ukraine after their invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941. But with few exceptions, most notably the 1941 slaughter of nearly 34,000 Jews in the Babi Yar ravine in Kiev, much of that history has gone untold.
Knocking on doors, unannounced, Father Desbois, 52, seeks to unlo ck the memories of Ukrainian villagers the way he might take confessions one by one in church.
To read the entire story, please click here.
Introduction to the the Exhibition: The Mass Shooting of Jews in the Ukraine 1941-1944
The Holocaust by Bullets
The photos are simply shattering.
Father Desbois is a great and righteous man. The Jewish people—dead and alive—owe him a huge debt of gratitude.
Posted by Robert J. Avrech at October 6, 2007 11:34 PM
Comments
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Wow......
Chag Sameach.
Posted by: mark at October 7, 2007 10:36 AM
Maximilian Kolbe is another Roman Catholic who heroically fought the Nazis. Kolbe, a Catholic Priest, was sent to Auschwitz for publicly speaking out against the Third Reich in occupied Poland. He volunteered to take the place of a man condemned to die, was starved for three weeks, and finally executed by lethal injection.
Still, one or two heroes is not enough to erase the Austrian/German Catholic Churches compliance with those evil bastards. Not our finest hour.
Posted by: John at October 7, 2007 12:14 PM
That was...painful, but necessary to see.
Posted by: Jack at October 7, 2007 09:50 PM
Mark:
Sometimes words just fail us.
Posted by: Robert J. Avrech ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.seraphicpress.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at October 8, 2007 12:25 AM
John:
I was not aware of Maximilian Kolbe. Thanks so much for letting us know of this courageous man.
The failures of the church were immense, no question. But that only enhances the courage of those few in the church who fought the evils of the Third Reich and sacrificed their lives to save Jews.
Posted by: Robert J. Avrech at October 8, 2007 12:33 AM
Jack:
Deeply painful.
And as you rightly point out, oh-so-necessary.
Posted by: Robert J. Avrech at October 8, 2007 12:35 AM
What is shocking to me, although perhaps it shouldn't be, is that all he has to do sometimes is knock on a door and ask where the mass grave is. Shows you how few people care. This is the worst thing to ever happen.
Posted by: Alice at October 8, 2007 03:48 AM
Alice:
Yes, the last two lines line of the article are so revealing:
“People talk as if these things happened yesterday, as if 60 years didn’t exist,” Father Desbois said. “Some ask, ‘Why are you coming so late? We have been waiting for you.’”
Posted by: Robert J. Avrech at October 8, 2007 09:29 AM
The juxtaposition of these photographs, and Olmert's intentions towards Jerusalem -- outrage upon outrage. It will be difficult to sleep.
Posted by: Katherine at October 8, 2007 07:51 PM
Katherine:
Yes, you are very right about the juxtapositions of past and future. That Olmert does not get it is truly frightening and potentially tragic.
Makes for many sleepless nights in Casa Avrech too.
Posted by: Robert J. Avrech at October 9, 2007 11:05 PM
I am deeply moved at the compassion and determination of father dubois. i view the information posted with tears streaming down. The question he is asked, I ponder... Why have we not come before? It is like the deceased have been waiting for full disclosure and waiting to be found.
Now that these people can share their stories of what they have carried all these years ...may they rest in peace when it is their time to leave this world for a much better place to once again be reunited with those gone on before
Oh I read and write this with such mixed emotions. Gratitude for father Dubois and how and why and it is like I can hear their screams and dread to feel their pain
Posted by: Frances Du beau Chasse" at June 19, 2009 12:40 PM
Frances:
We share your tears. Thanks so much for writing. Do stay in touch.
Posted by: Robert J. Avrech at June 19, 2009 12:45 PM
Tambièn conviene recordar entre otros hombres justos al Padre Jose Pedro Kentenich ,prisionero en Dachau ,cada minuto allì tuvo el sereno valor de desafiar cada segundo la autoridad del règimen nazi .
Posted by: omar florencio acosta at October 13, 2009 01:38 PM