Posted on 09/29/2015 3:08:50 AM PDT by markomalley
IT WAS only when the gates of the Nazi death camps were thrown open that the industrial scale of Hitler’s killing became known.
Western diplomats had received scattered information about Nazi massacres of Jewish people and “undesirables” in occupied Poland and Russia but it was difficult to confirm.
Yet just 70 years since the end of the Second World War, a genocide is taking place once again, this time against Christians.
Scores have already been murdered by Islamic State and thousands forced to leave ancient Christian communities in northeastern Syria and western Iraq as the extremists demand they either convert to Islam, pay an extortionate rate of tax or face execution.
Some have even been crucified.
Despite concerns being raised by religious leaders including the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, the plight of Christian refugees is largely being ignored by the western world.
Now a charity, which is being funded by Jewish peer George Weidenfeld, who escaped Nazi-occupied Austria with the help of British Christians, is taking matters into its own hands by mounting a series of rescue missions to save the Syrian Christians.
Lord Weidenfeld, who was smuggled to safety by Quakers at the age of five, said: “I have a debt to repay.”
So far the charity, the Barnabas Fund, has liberated 158 Christians from Syria and found them a new home in Poland.
Its founder and international director Patrick Sookhdeo has recently returned from a visit to eastern Europe, where he was seeking refuge for the hundreds of thousands of Syrian Christians who continue to live under the tyranny of IS.
According to Mr Sookhdeo, Britain’s offer to take up to 20,000 Syrian refugees inadvertently discriminates against the Christian communities most victimised by the Islamic State butchers.
He said: “The British government has said it will take 20,000 refugees and we have said, ‘Will you not take some Christians?’ But we have had no reply.
“We have even put out a joint statement with Muslim Aid to the Government saying both communities are suffering, can’t you look after both?
“What David Cameron is doing, we believe, is unfair.
“He has said he will go to the camps to get the refugees, but the problem is that the Christians don’t like to live in the camp.
“What they prefer to do is to live in church halls or else with families and the reason is that it is safer for them. What we are saying to the Government is that you need a broader based approach.
“By all means take the most vulnerable people but don’t just take them from the camps because you are only going to get one kind of people. When it comes to other countries they all say that European legislation means you can’t discriminate between one religious community and another but we say surely the most vulnerable are the ones you have got to be taking in.”
In areas controlled by IS, Christians have been crucified, beheaded, raped and subjected to forced conversion.
Christian children are also being sold as slaves.
Mr Sookhdeo added: “It is like going back 1,000 years seeing the barbarity that Christians are having to live under. I think we are dealing with a group which makes Nazism pale in comparison and I think they have lost all respect for human life.
“Crucifying these people is sending a message and they are using forms of killing which they believe have been sanctioned by Sharia law.
“For them what they are doing is perfectly normal and they don’t see a problem with it. It is that religious justification which is so appalling.”
While it is not known how many Syrian Christians have been murdered by IS, the numbers living in the country have fallen rapidly since the start of the civil war in 2011.
More than 700,000 of Syria’s population of 1.1 million Christians have already been forced to leave as IS militants expanded into the northwest of the country.
Mr Sookhdeo believes there are now no more than 250,000 Christians living in Syria.
He said: “In Aleppo, to give you one illustration, there used to be 400,000 Christians four years ago. Today there may be between 45,000 and 65,000.”
Mr Sookhdeo now faces a race against time to find a new home for the hundreds of thousands of Syrian Christians who he claims have “lost all hope”.
Last week he was in Hungary, where he was appealing to religious and political leaders to provide visas for the Christians.
He then drove on to Romania as part of his mercy mission.
He is planning a second mission that will see another 40 Christians rescued from Syria.
Mr Sookhdeo said: “Basically what we have to do is to persuade political and religious leaders to look kindly on this project. I think there is some concern about the numbers involved and the costs, but what we have been saying to these countries is that we can bear these costs so they are not a burden on poor impoverished states or even western states.
“Many Christians and churches are saying we will open up our homes and churches, we will also provide money and support for the first year.
“Because these people are Christians they can also integrate very quickly within the churches and most of them are professionals, like doctors and accountants, so they won’t have a problem finding work.”
One country has already indicated a willingness to take 10,000 Syrian Christians, while others have said they will take between 150 and 200.
Historically (at least for the past couple of hundred years), the problem is that if the Pope ends up speaking out loudly and calling on nations to act, a lot of people die.
His predecessor called for German Catholics to not allow themselves to be wooed by the Nazis (Mit Brennender Sorge) resulted in an increase in persecution against Catholics throughout Germany.
Consider: the Vatican never ran a crusade by itself. It depended upon Catholic Kings and Princes to supply troops for a crusade.
Seriously, consider: if +Francis was to call for a crusade, which countries would rise to the call?
Would the United States? Certainly not under Obama, but would the US under Bush respond? Not only would the atheistic left pillory Bush for responding, there are a good portion of conservatives that would do the same thing...including a whole host of FReepers who would say this was some sort of conspiracy for the Vatican to take over the world.
Would Great Britain? Less likely than the US.
Would France? Less likely than the UK.
Would Germany? Chuckle...
I agree that it is horribly frustrating to only see crocodile tears, but if there was a call for more, who would listen? You and I might. However, I can't speak for you, but I don't "own" an army.
‘This too needs to be denounced”.
OK, sounds passive and not straight forward. He should say, “I denounce in the strongest possible terms, the murder and torture of Christians (and non-Christians) at the hands of ISIS and all other related TERROR-Armies.
When he says, this “needs to be denounced” it is still passive, third person. Now I grant you, these words, which are mere words are stronger that the POTUS, as he favors the rise of Islam around the Globe. Call them TERRORISTS because that is what these scum are.
And just what kind of weaponry and intelligence would they possibly have to fight the savages? Think of it this way, would you have balked at the idea of helping Jewish people trying to escape Germany during the Holocaust? I think not and I look at this the same way. I for one have affection for the minority Christians having to live in the predominantly Muslim lands of the Mideast.
Guess “never again” doesn’t include Christians” As long as Obama and his muslim loving friends are in the White House, anyone that isn’t muslim is fair game and the Christians had better not expect any help, because none is coming.
-— Obama is pushing the Greater Caliphate and chaos at every turn. -—
Yup
An infuriating and bloody mess we find our world in.
Sad that the fate of so many may lie in the hands of a Russian wannabee Tsar and maybe the Chicoms.
And any divisions the Pope would have; all have their hands out looking for freebies.
You are right. We have a choice to fight and die or become a slave.
At one time, the Pope had an army...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.