quotes from "Rabbi Eckstein"
by: ProIsrael
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“Tom was a young Jew in Nazi-occupied Hungary during World War II whose life was saved by Raoul Wallenberg, a “Righteous Friend of Israel” who risked everything to save Jews. Congressman Lantos recounts this amazing story:
Allow me to tell you how I learned, and what I learned, about Christians and Christianity. I was born in Budapest, Hungary. In 1944, I was a sixteen-year-old boy who was convinced, with good reason, that he would not survive World War II. None of my family did. But a Christian, far away from Budapest, acted on his Christian values.
The man who saved my life and that of Annette, who is now my wife, was Raoul Wallenberg-a Lutheran and a member of Sweden’s most distinguished family who had the world as his oyster. He could have been Sweden’s leading diplomat…but as he looked south to Hitler-occupied Hungary, his conscience did not allow him to remain in that peaceful and secure land of Sweden. He took a train and joined us in hell.
As a teenager, I accompanied Wallenberg to the trains where Jews were being packed like animals into rail cars for their journey to death, and helped him pull people off. He bluffed his way through. He had no authorization. His only authorization was his own courage. Any Nazi officer could have shot him. But he feared nothing for himself.
Through magic, miracle, and courage, Raoul Wallenberg saved about 100,000 innocent lives. When I worked with him taking Jews off the death trains, I truly learned the meaning of Christian values-the notion that we are all brothers’ and sister’s keepers.
My wife Annete and I are here, our two daughters are alive, and our seventeen grandchildren bring us untold joy because of a Christian who did not even know us. I believe everyone connected with (The Fellowship) is living and working in the tradition of Raoul Wallenberg. It is a good lesson for me to have been saved by a great Christian.”
March 22, 2006 letter from ICJF, Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein
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quotes from Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein
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