By Marjorie Young

Two amazing incidents recently came to light, though one occurred decades ago in 1945, while the other happened just last month. One took place in Germany, the second, a world away in Kenya. But they bear almost identical markings of something quite extraordinary.

During the Battle of the Bulge, American Master Sargent Roddie Edmonds was one of many taken captive by the Germans. Interned in a prisoner of war camp, there came a day when the camp commandant, speaking in English, demanded that all Jewish prisoners identify themselves. Of course, had they done so, their fate would have sealed. But Edmonds, as the ranking American NCO, ordered all one thousand internees to step forward. Infuriated, the Nazi officer held a gun to Edmond’s head, vowing to shoot him down if he defied the order that Jews be singled out. “We are all Jews here,” was the response. Looking death in the face, Edmonds defiantly added that he if he were killed, the commandant would be required to execute every prisoner, promising they’d testify to his war crimes when Germany was defeated. The Nazi lowered his pistol and walked away. It is estimated that Edmonds saved at least two hundred lives that day, yet the hero never spoke of his actions and it was only recently that the story came to light. The State of Israel plans to honor his memory and he is being considered for the Congressional Medal of Honor as well.
And then, only last month in Kenya, the brutal Islamic terrorist group, Al-Shabab, waylaid a bus, demanding that all Christian passengers be identified. The band has a gruesome history of assassinating ‘non-believers’ and only the week before had massacred twenty-eight in a similar attack. This time, however, something quite different unfolded. After one Christian passenger fled in panic and was shot down, Muslim women gave Christian females head scarves, so they might hope to blend in. But when the terrorist leader again demanded that Christians be handed over, the Muslims were unanimous: ‘We are all Muslims here. Kill us together or leave us alone.” Stymied, the attackers ultimately withdrew.

These two occurrences moved me to tears. They so clearly define the very worst in humanity existing alongside the very best. What motivates ordinary people to be willing to sacrifice themselves to save others…especially when they have every prospect of escaping death themselves? In each case, the Nazis and Al-Shabab were after ‘outsiders’…Jews or Christians. Yet both the American POWS and the Kenyan passengers defied the barbarism confronting them with compassion and courageous hearts. Moreover, their actions were instantaneous and instinctive, making them all the more praiseworthy.

It is a certainty that darkness resides within the human heart, and that certain circumstances permit it to freely flourish. We humans are indeed a strange breed; jarring a combination of the ‘demonic’ and the ‘angelic.’ But it is always within the scope of our individual will to make the ultimate choice; nothing and no one can deprive us of that freedom. Certainly, we never know when our own moment of truth may arrive. I can only hope our response will be the moral equivalent of ‘We are all Muslims!’…‘We are all Jews!’

Marjorie is available for readings at the Ballard Sunday Market, her Ballard home, or by phone.
Please email her: myballardpsychic@gmail.com
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