The Remnant On Line History Page

At four years old I decided to do something about it. I gathered up all the cleaning products in the house, took my father in the bath room, and I was going to take off the ugly numbers. You know he went along with it all and watched me as I took Brillo pads and soap but I could not remove the numbers."

JERUSALEM, ISRAEL -- It was a cold day and the chill of a winter wind was blowing in Jerusalem as we approached the Holocaust Museum. We were honored to come to this memorial for there is a waiting list of groups and individuals to view this marker of terror against God’s Chosen People. The almighty wanted us to see this place, I can’t say it was one of the most pleasant experiences on our trip to Israel, but the sights and the sounds of the death camps would flash through my mind all through the time we spent time in the Middle-East. We were going to speak to someone who knew about these places for she was born after her mother and father were released from the Auschwitz Prison Camp in Poland.

She was speaking to us because Jackie Yockey Mitchum had met her while she was attending the National Religious Broadcasting Convention in Dallas, Texas. She was Linda Olmert, at the time her brother-in-law was serving as Acting Prime Minister in the Israeli Parliament (Knesset) after Ariel Sharon suffered a stroke. Jackie was so impressed with her, she asked Linda to come and speak to the High Adventure Tour Group in Tel Aviv. Since that time Ehud Olmert has become the Prime Minister of Israel after his Kadima Party won a majority of the seats in the Kanessett on March 28.

Auschwitz Prison Camp

      Linda Olmert explained her miracle existence as she said, "I shouldn’t even be here." Linda’s parents were at the Auschwitz Prison Camp in Poland when they were liberated by the Soviet Army on January 27th, 1945. Several thousand, mainly sick prisoners remained in the camp and two of those there were Linda’s parents. The miracle of Linda is that her father had been at Auschwitz for two years and was scheduled for extermination but the quick advance of the Russian Red Army liberated those who survived this terrible nightmare. Today she is an extension of that memory that will not forget the suffering of her mother and father. It was one of the darkest days in the history of the people called the Jews.
      Her parents could not enter Israel because of poor health from being in the camps, so they settled in Canada after the war. This is where Linda was born. While they were liberated from the Auschwitz Camp, the lingering memory of that place caused her father to weep late at night while Linda was a baby. "I began as a small child to hear these loud cries at night, at first I didn’t know what they were but somehow I knew they were connected to numbers that were tattooed on my father’s arm. At four years old I decided to do something about it. I gathered up all the cleaning products in the house, took my father in the bath room, and I was going to take off the ugly numbers. You know he went along with it all and watched me as I took brillo pads and soap but I could not remove the numbers." Linda began to understand, like the numbers, the memories could not be destroyed and her dysfunctional family would have to remember what was done to them out of pure hatred. Linda spoke about the role of Christians in the persecution of the Jews. "I for a long time could not find myself to forgive Christian’s for what they have done to my people over the years but I began to learn about a certain group of people who very often protected our people called them, ’Righteous Gentiles.’ Oskar Schindler was one of these ‘Righteous Gentiles’ as he hid Jews from the Germans in Poland so they would not be sent to the death camps. These people played a major role during the slaughter of the Jews in Germany and over a period of years in Europe."

It was in the year 2000 when Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon decided to take a walk up to the Temple Mount. After that event Islamic people declared Jihad and that’s when the Interfada began. That one event opened up a new reign of terror against the Jewish people that not only threatened the Jewish people but began to attack the economy. Israel and Jerusalem are pilgrimage areas for both Christians and Jews and when the bombings started the tourism industry in Israel almost completely shut down. Linda spoke about a lady who had just purchased the Gold Hotel and how she had to pay a price for this Jihad. Two weeks before the Interfada began almost every hotel in Israel was filled with tourists but as the bombings started it ended tourism. Cancellations came into this lady who had just invested more than 15 million dollars. For two years the hotel began to lose business until 2003 when Christians people began to be drawn back to the Holy Land. "This melted my heart. Before this I would not even lead a Christian tour group through Israel, I saw a group of ‘Righteous Gentiles’ helping us in our time of need," said Linda Olmert. Because of these ‘Righteous Christian Gentiles’ the country is prospering today again in tourism. We’re not out of the dark yet but it sure is a lot better than it was. Now I am traveling to the United States of America where Christian Churches are asking me to come and tell the story of Israel."

Linda had a new laptop computer and as she had several quotes from Palestinian leaders who spoke about peace during the Oslo Peace Accords and then turned around and promoted Jihad in other parts of the world. As she stood in front of the group she gave a careful explanation of the desperate plight of the Palestinians belief in Jihad. "Palestinian children are raised to believe that a martyrs death will reward them and increase them. Our faith teaches us to celebrate life while the Islamic faith puts forth death as the thing that makes them stronger. We are interested in peace, our people are tired of war and terrorism. We are very diverse in our political parties but we stand together on this one thing, we want to live in peace with our neighbors and to that extent we will do what it takes to bring that about. Our people are tired of war but we will do what we have to do to exist."

The beauty in the what Linda was saying was tempered in love. She has had an awakening about Christians and knows that the survival of Israel is a large part of the survival of the United States for we are both in a common cause.