In 1943, two Jewish teenagers living in Krakow, Poland were seized from their families by Nazi soldiers. Their names were Kuba and Helen, and neither knew the other. Both kidnappings were independent—two more typical examples of the Nazis inhumanity toward people.
Kuba and Helen were transported to the city of Plaszow, Poland. Efficient Nazi paperwork was filled out. Both Kuba and Helen were loaded by German soldiers onto trucks. Intuitively, they realized, they were probably being taking to a concentration camp… and to their deaths.
Instead, they were taken to a factory owned by a German businessman named Oskar Schindler. There Kuba and Helen toiled for Schindler until he had to relocate his factory to Czechoslovakia. However, both remained on Schindler’s list.
Then, Helen’s life took a dramatic twist. Nazi soldiers mistakenly placed her on a train bound for a concentration camp. Schindler discovered the error and rescued her.
After the war, Helen and Kuba met, fell in love, and got married. In 1945, both Helen and Kuba had a chance to return to Krakow to search for their families. Kuba's parents and brothers had been killed. Helen's parents and six of her nine siblings were murdered. So Helen and Kuba decided to take the ravaged remains of their lives and begin again, creating a new life. In 1949, they moved to the United States.
Several years ago, when the movie, SCHINDLER’S LIST, was released, a national publication sent a reporter to interview Jews, who survived the Nazi Holocaust, due to the work of Oskar Schindler. Among them were Kuba and Helen Beck. In the ensuing years, they had created a new life and a new family, built upon love. They remembered their great loss; yet, they were thankful for their great blessing.
My mind goes back to that fateful day back in 1943, when Kuba and Helen were taken from their families and thrown onto trucks. Up to that point, it had to have been the worst moment in their entire lives. If there was a God, how could He have permitted this to happen? But that "bad" experience set into motion a chain of events that ultimately saved their lives.
I wonder how often we look at our worst moments with desolation, not realizing that under God’s providential care, we are actually being blessed.
Next time you get the chance, read the story of Joseph in the biblical book of Genesis, chapters 37-50.
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