History Colorado Center: an Evening with Father Patrick Desbois
Monday 6 November – Father Patrick Desbois, a French Roman Catholic priest who excavates undocumented Holocaust gravesites, lectured on the contrast between the Holocaust and genocide experienced today by Jews in Europe, with Lara Logan, of CBS.
At the start of the lecture, a portion of the 60 Minutes episode, The Hidden Holocaust, was shown. Within the episode, Desbois is excavating the former USSR, where many Jewish lives were taken during World War II, outside of the camps.
“Each person has a purpose,” Desbois said during the lecture.
President of Yahad – In Unum, Father Desbois has made his purpose to uncover gravesites and commemorate victims of World War II. Alongside managing the organization, he is a professor at Georgetown, studying war criminals.
Father Desbois began the session by recounting conversations with survivors of the Holocaust. The horrors of the stories silenced the audience. He spoke about how such terrors could happen to anyone. “You were not Jew, you were not gypsy, you were not communist. You were no race. You were nothing.”
Upon visiting the former USSR, most frequently Ukraine, Father Desbois has met with many locals holding memories from the time of war. Among the most difficult to hear was a story of two young girls who were killed in a golden field of flowers on a pleasant sunshining day. After hearing the story his way of thinking was completely changed.
“Now sunflowers smell like death.”
After recounting several memories, including meeting the last “old person” from a village and a builder of concentration camp gas chambers, Father Desbois went on to explain his unlikely and transformative meeting with Mary Teresa Bojaxhiu, commonly known as Mother Teresa and honored in the Roman Catholic Church as Saint Teresa of Calcutta.
“She was so simple,” Desbois said pensively. At the time he was a young man, 22, fallen ill in Kolkata.
She told him “We don’t make the decision when to be sick.” That feverish day forever impacted young Desbois, leading him to dedicate his life to bring justice to people who cannot change their situation.
Desbois shifted gears to speak about ISIL. According to him, many people prioritize learning about genocide of the past rather than what is going on today. Everyone sees attacks in the news then returns to their life once the TV program is over, not taking a moment to question what is happening, he said. He asked the audience why no one studies al Qaeda or ISIL like they do World War II. Not a person moved in their seat.
Turning to matters of the present, Father Desbois listed Jews that have been killed by ISIL. The audience was in disbelief as he described their brutal deaths. He finished by acquainting the audience with Jacques Hamel – Priest at Normandy, France parish, Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray. While celebrating mass with his congregation, he was murdered. The 26 July 2016 Normandy attack was brought upon by by two Muslim men who pledged allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
“People know Anne Frank, but don’t know the name of one Jewish lady in France that has died [today]”
Hearing the stories of these people left everyone in the hall completely silent. Father Desbois went on to recount memories of his grandmother, a woman who hid Jews during the second world war. She did not so because she was told or encouraged to, but because to her, it was the right thing to do, he said.
He finished by urging the people to do the right thing and be conscious and considerate of everyone, no matter who they are. With a roar of applause and gleaming gazes, the audience understood.
“Try to think of everyone as a neighbor, otherwise tomorrow will be a nightmare… we are all neighbors and we are all at the gates of Auschwitz.”