The “C-word” is, of course, Christ.
Anita Dittman survived Hitler and the Nazis. Born Jewish, she became a Christian during the Holocaust. And it’s that part of her story which is verboten in public schools today.
WND
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Jews met their death, gave her cause to reflect once again on life under the Nazis.
Her message is different now, she says, much different than when she first went public in 1978 with her experience as a Holocaust survivor.
Could it happen here?
“When I started speaking in 1978-79, people would ask me, ‘Do you think it could happen here in this country?’ And I said, ‘Oh no, people are used to so much freedom in this country, it could never happen here,’” Ditmann told WND. “When they ask me that question now, I say, ‘It is already happening.’”
Americans are not “disappearing” as in Nazi Germany, but Dittman says something has changed.
“The country that I came to in 1946 was very different,” she said. “I can’t speak in public schools anymore. They won’t let me.”
When she informs educators that her message will contain strong Christian themes, she usually gets a few seconds of awkward silence. Then a polite rebuff.
See the story of a young Jewish girl discovering the Messiah’s faithfulness in the midst of the Holocaust, in “Trapped in Hitler’s Hell.”
One school administrator at a high school in northern Minnesota contacted her with an invitation to speak, saying she came highly recommended by some students who had heard her speak previously.
“I called him back and left a message and said I would be honored. Just let me know the date and time, and I will be there,” Dittman said.
“I said, I have to tell you, though, that Christ is in my message.”
“Well can’t you leave Christ out of it?” the man asked.
“He is the one who kept me safe. I can’t keep Him out,” Dittman responded.
“Well, I’m sorry then. You can’t come,” he said.
Many other doors have closed at the mention of the “C” word.
“The doors were always open to me when I first started out speaking. And I spoke sometimes three, four, five times a day at schools,” she said. “Once I spoke in five classes, and when I came out of the fourth one, the principal said you don’t have to speak to the fifth because they are a rowdy bunch. Well, I told him, the Holy Spirit can work wonders, and they ended up being the best class of all. The kids want to hear it, the teachers want to hear it. But higher up is problem.”
Some schools still allow her to speak but require parents to sign a form saying it’s OK for their child to sit through a presentation that contains religious themes.
But more often, the parents don’t even have a say in the matter, and she is barred upfront from speaking.
“It’s getting worse, I tell you,” she said. “It’s so dictating to the parents now. This is how it started in Russia and Germany.”
Sad. We silence Holocaust survivors because they have a message of hope in Christ.
