During the Holocaust, people were being prosecuted for a part of their identity, their religion. This was a time where either you embraced your Jewish faith and died for your faith or you hid that part of your identity and saved your life. People of faith would obviously want to sacrifice their lives for their religion. But on second thought, one needs to think of all that you would be leaving behind. Many people didn't even have a choice. They were just ripped out of their homes and sent to concentration camps.
I know a story about a man who gave up his life to save someone else during the Holocaust. His name was Maximilian Kolbe. He was sent to Auschwitz, where he met a man and his family. This man was sentenced to execution. Maximilian realized that this man had more to lose than he did; therefore, he went to where the man was going to be executed, pretended to be him, and died. This noble act earned him the name, St. Maximilian Kolbe. The church I go to is named after him, as an honor to his sacrifice.
St. Max had a big heart. He not only embraced his religion, but he gave up his life when he really had no need to. He could have lived. But he knew the other man would be leaving a whole family behind.
-Victoria Cardenas
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