March 5, 2020 (Thursday)
Yesterday I watched “Great Perfomances” on PBS. Classical music was played by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra for a summer concert outdoors and attendance was 100,000. The setting was absolutely beautiful, with a palace in the background behind the orchestra. I marveled at the idyllic beauty of the place, and thought of the Austrian people, remembering with sadness what happened there during World War 2.
My dear friend, Josef Herschkowitz, lived in that place and no doubt heard beautiful music there and saw the glorious sights. He had a good job with the City of Vienna and his wife, Hermine, had a great job as head nurse in one of the world’s great mental hospitals.
But then the snake entered the garden, and the minds of many were poisoned. Fear became common and people were careful about what they said as the well-dressed S.S. officers with shined boots walked the streets, helped the elderly across the street, and stopped to ask shopkeepers how they were doing that day. At night they vandalized Jewish businesses, invaded Jewish homes, raped women and brutalized men. Josef was arrested and sent to Dachau concentration camp because he was a Jew. Hermine was fired and ostracized because she was a Gentile married to a Jew. She lived near starvation in that beautiful city for the next six years.
How did such a wonderful place become poisoned by hatred and fear? Without answering that question, I remind my readers today that those same feelings are getting stronger every day in our beloved land. If we don’t check our dark emotions, we run the risk of losing all we hold dear. They said it couldn’t happen in Germany and Austria. But it did.
Let Us Break Bread Together
Words: Old Spiritual Song
Music: Anonymous
Date: Long Ago
Often sung at Communion
1. Let us break bread together on our knees, (on our knees)
let us break bread together on our knees. (on our knees)
When I fall on my knees with my face to the rising sun,
O Lord, have mercy on me. (on me)
2. Let us drink wine together on our knees, (on our knees)
let us drink wine together on our knees. (on our knees)
When I fall on my knees with my face to the rising sun,
O Lord, have mercy on me. (on me)
[3]. Let us praise God together on our knees, (on our knees)
let us praise God together on our knees. (on our knees)
When I fall on my knees with my face to the rising sun,
O Lord, have mercy on me. (on me)
4. Let us praise God together on our knees, (on our knees)
let us praise God together on our knees. (on our knees)
When I fall on my knees with my face to the rising sun,
O Lord, have mercy if you please. (if you please)