After the initial D-Day invasion, after many challenges and difficulties, the allies were finally sweeping across Europe. It was during this final phase of the war that the soldiers came face-to-face with the true aspect of Nazi evil. This war had already demonstrated great amounts of the power of hate to torment and kill people in creative ways. Minds bent on evil can accomplish so much hurt and horror. What the soldiers ran into, defied even the reports that the leaders of the free world had received. Men and women totally emaciated from hunger with looks of hopelessness etched on their faces. Striped clothing barely held onto their skeletal bodies. The Germans called these work camps. Big metal gates at the entrances declared, “Arbeit macht Frie” (Work makes freedom.) In America we called these internment camps, but today historians refer to these as concentration camps.
When these soldiers saw these prisoners, compassion welled up inside of them and they moved quickly to meet the most obvious need, hunger. Food appeared from tanks, jeeps and rucksacks and was given to the grateful survivors. On the surface this seems like a good place to start. These men and women were starving. As they worked, prayed and visited they talked about food. When they slept, they dreamt about food. Food was first and foremost on their minds. When the food was presented, they would smile weakly and begin eating.
However, what they could not know, and the soldiers could not imagine, was that the precious food was actually killing these men and women.
You see the men and women were so malnourished that their bodies could simply not handle it. Doctors arrived and orders were given to lock the survivors back up into the camps. There was legitimate fear that if these folks were set free, they would eat themselves to death. This was hard for the soldiers to comprehend. How could withholding food be evil? Locking them back up felt like a hateful exercise.
The doctors set up a system where they began to help these men and women to recover. They started them on milk, then added in some formula, eventually some soft foods, and then simple hard foods, and then total freedom to eat what they wanted. The process was similar, but each person was unique. Many recovered quickly and were released from the camps to go forth and experience freedom. Others took a great deal of time as they recovered. Regardless, they all needed a process so they might one day flourish. Freedom was always the objective. Success was measured in the camps becoming smaller.
Today, we have developed systems to help those in poverty to get into the concentration camps. We then reward the camp directors with how many people they have in their camp. With that reward system, we should expect that the process would be nearly nonexistent. Pleasing the camp dwellers is the objective. Freedom is nowhere on the menu. Success is determined by greater numbers of people in the camp. When this happens, taxpayer dollars go to programs that keep people addicted. Funding goes to making sure that people are making just enough progress to keep funds rolling in so they are medicated and kept mentally ill. The programs look more like a dating app where people go to them for help to find a lifetime mate, but the app does not make money if you find the love of your life and get married. They only make money if you get close to finding a soul mate but not quite.
It is time that we upgrade our systems to reward programs that take men and women from life on the streets and work them through a process that brings healing, restoration and flourishing to their lives. Ultimately, these men and women will experience freedom and they will become assets to our community.
