We Must Forgive to Live

Anger and hatred over past atrocities, if not resolved, often render an individual emotionally dysfunctional. Couple anger and hate with the refusal to forgive and you have a recipe for mental illness. Roger, a young nine-year old boy from the Ukraine experiences the horrors of Stalin's man-made famine of 1932-33 in which his baby sister starves to death and his dad is executed for stealing a small bag of wheat. Roger and his mother escape from the Ukraine into Poland. A few years later, the Second World War breaks out. Because of their Jewish blood, his mother, grandfather and he are placed in the Nazi slave labour camps. His mother dies in the work camp and Roger witnesses the horror of his grandfather being beaten to death by an evil guard. Roger survives the slave labour camp, but with the passage of time, his grief over his great losses turns to anger and hatred. He adamantly refuses to forgive those who have caused him pain. Will Roger find the peace that only forgiveness can bring or will the torturous trail he takes lead him to insanity? All of us can learn from Roger's life. In truth:
WE MUST FORGIVE TO LIVE