Kiddush Hashem - STORY

Relates the Rebbe of Bluzhov:

"Each morning at dawn, the Germans would lead us out of the camp for a day of hard labor. We were given a huge saw and expected to cut its quota of logs. One day, as I pushed the heavy saw, I was approached by a young woman who was evidently in an extremely weak physical state. "Rebbe," she whispered to me, "do you have a knife?"

I immediately understood her intention. "My daughter," I begged, concentrating all the love and conviction in my heart. "Do not take your own life. I know that your life is now a living hell, from which death seems a blessed release. But we must never lose hope. With G-d's help, we will survive this ordeal and see better days."

But the woman seemed oblivious to my words. "A knife", she repeated. "I must have a knife. Now."

At that moment, one of the German guards approached us. "What did she say to you?" He demanded of me.

We both froze. Conversing during work was a grave transgression.

"I asked him for a knife", the woman said. And to my horror, she then addressed her request to the guard: "Give me a knife!"

The German, too, guessed her intention, and a devilish smile flickered on his lips. He had seen the bodies of those who, out of desperation, threw themselves during the night on the electrified fence, but this would be a novel sight for him. Still smiling, he reached into his pocket and handed her a small knife.

Taking the knife, she bent over a small bundle of rags. Quickly unraveling the bundle, she took out a tiny infant. Before our astonished eyes, she swiftly and skillfully circumcised the week-old boy.

"Blessed are You, G-d our G-d, King of the Universe," she recited in a clear voice, "Who has sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us to enter him into the covenant of Abraham our Father."

Cradling the child in her arms, she soothed his cries. "Master of the Universe!" she cried out "Eight days ago you gave me a child. I know that neither I nor he will long survive in this accursed place. But now, when you take him back, you will receive him as a complete Jew."

And she handed the knife back to the German."