I asked Pastor Reece why a Christian would spend his time and resources restoring Jewish cemeteries in a country, far across the ocean, that saw three million of its Jews wiped out.
“It’s very simple,” he answered. “Love. Love of neighbor, love of God. From a Jewish perspective, caring for a cemetery is the highest expression of charity. It’s beyond tzedakah. It’s the ultimate expression of love and kindness. It breaks down barriers and opens the way for dialogue, which is what I am pursuing – dialogue, forgiveness, reconciliation. The latter is a long time away, but dialogue is possible.”
Reece acknowledges that his work elicits “glares” from many local Poles who retain a “residual anti-Semitism without ever having met a Jew.” Still, he takes issue with Comey’s allegation.
“I disagree,” he says, “because that would imply that Poles were collaborators, and they were not. They were not like Vichy France. Yes, there was Polish anti-Semitism, but by and large it’s very offensive for a Pole to be equated with a Nazi.”
The German invasion and brutal occupation of Poland during World War II make it easy for Poles to assume the role of victim. However, distinguishing between casualties of war crimes and victims of an unprecedented and vicious systematic genocide needs to be a point of the dialogue Reece seeks to pursue.
The need for such dialogue becomes essential as both Christians and Jews increasingly find themselves under attack by common enemies. Suddenly, shared experiences and concerns create shared perspectives.
Last week at a joint event with the World Jewish Congress commemorating the 70th anniversary of the Allied liberation of Nazi death camps in Geneva, the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Peter Maurer, admitted that the humanitarian agency “lost its moral compass” during the Holocaust. And, he warned, “we cannot guarantee that a humanitarian catastrophe of the extent of the Holocaust will not happen again.”
Maurer also noted that “ ‘Never again’ resonates with difficulty because of what we see and experience on the ground every day…throughout the Middle East, Africa and even right here in Europe.”
Faced with mass executions and oppression in countries invaded by Islamic radicals, Christians are fleeing their homes and coming under attacks reminiscent of those suffered by Jews. And on the cultural and political front in Western countries, Judeo-Christian values and church teachings are routinely denigrated in the courts, the media, and academia.
Non-Jews like Comey and Reece are righteous because they have no agenda besides doing the right thing. Christians who are less motivated would do well to learn from their example. We can start with honest dialogue, but we need to achieve honest reconciliation to successfully battle enemies that challenge us both.