A Lesson from Treblinka

The warnings were loud and clear—but no one was listening!

Martin Gray was one of the very few Warsaw Jews who escaped the Nazi death camp at Treblinka. Captured in Warsaw in 1943, he was assigned to Treblinka work details instead of immediately marched to the gas chambers.

Only a teenager, Martin labored on several work crews before being assigned to the "excavator pit"—the mass graves where thousands of bodies of men, women and children were buried daily. He was fully aware that those who labored in those mass graves also were to be killed after a few weeks. No one was to be left alive to reveal to the world what the Nazis were doing.

Martin's mission

Martin escaped by tying himself with belts to the underside of a truck. Later he hid in a load of clothing on a train.

Once away from the train Martin assigned himself a mission. He believed if he could only tell the Jews in the other towns and villages of Poland how the Nazis planned to kill them he would be able to save some of them.

Martin went from town to town, telling everyone he could about Treblinka, the gas chambers, the mass graves and the thousands who died every day.

A warning unheeded

In his own words, "I shouted, ran back and forth among them ... Listen to me, I'm a Jew, like you!! You've got to believe me; they're killing us, all of us! Do you know about Treblinka? They did not even look up. They carried on with their work as if I weren't there. I sat down on the side of the road…" (For Those I Loved, p. 163).

Later, Martin tells how he watched from a distance as the Nazi troops rounded up all of the people in those villages, loaded them into trucks and sent them to their deaths at Treblinka. "Why didn't they listen, why didn't they believe me?" he shouted to himself.

Would the average person today accept Martin's warning? Or would he or she pretend that all is well, that no danger exists?

Today's Treblinka-like alarms

Consider these recent headlines that you may have overlooked:

• "Iran Ready to Build Nuclear Weapon" (CNN.com May 29, 2009).
• Recently—in one week—North Korea tested a nuclear weapon, launched six test missiles and abrogated the 1953 treaty—effectively declaring war on South Korea, Japan, America, Britain and all other participating nations in the 1951-1953 "police action."
• "National Debt reaches 63.8 Trillion. The latest increase raises federal obligations to a record $546,668 per household in 2008, according to the USA TODAY analysis. That's quadruple what the average U.S. household owes for all mortgages, car loans, credit cards and other debt combined" (USA Today, May 29, 2009).
• "The End of Christian America" (Newsweek magazine's report on the dramatic number of people leaving the Christian religion).

These are only a few of the many alarming headlines pointing to some very difficult times ahead. Are we listening, or just going our merry way as if we have not a concern in the world?

Are we repeating the experience of the people who heard Martin Gray but shut their minds to the warning he gave them?

Advice for Christians

Jesus Christ gave some vital warnings concerning the end of our age: "For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again" (Matthew 24:21, New International Version). He explained, "For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth" (Luke 21:35).

He then said, "Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man" (Luke 21:36, NIV).

The Jews who refused to take seriously Martin Grey's warning did not escape the death camps at Treblinka. Will you be alert and watchful of the growing dangers Christians will face at the end of this age? Or will you refuse to take Jesus Christ's warnings seriously?

The United Church of God is eager to help you understand current world events in the light of Bible prophecy. We encourage you to request a free subscription to World News and Prophecy—or read it online if you are not already doing so. And view online—at your convenience—our instructive Beyond Today television programs.