JPFO Alert: Holocaust Miracle

ALERT FROM JEWS FOR THE PRESERVATION OF FIREARMS OWNERSHIP
America’s Aggressive Civil Rights Organization

December 06, 2004

JPFO Alert: Holocaust Miracle

By popular request, we are resending the Chanukah story
“Holocaust Miracle:Candles on the Train”, from the book
Heroes of the Holocaust by Arnold Geier.

Like the man on the train, we have candles that are very
precious to us: the ten flames of the Bill of Rights.
Unfortunately, these flames are flickering, and there are
those who would like to snuff them out permanently, like
they snuffed out the lives of so many before us.

Help us make sure our “candles” stay lit.

– The Liberty Crew

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Holocaust Miracle: Candles on the Train

December 25, 1938 was a day for celebration around the
world. For many it was Christmas, for some it was Chanukah
– and for the Geier family it was the day they would
escape the murderous clutches of the Germans. Shortly after
Kristallnacht, the Geier’s had received their passports and
visas to leave Germany for the United States.

It was a sunny but cold day as their train bound for
Holland pulled out of the Berlin station. The Geier’s
shared their second-class compartment with two very stern-
looking Germans. Arnold Geier, age 12, and his sister, 15,
sat quietly with their parents. In a whisper, Arnold
overheard his mother reassure his father that God would
forgive him for not lighting his menorah that night. Mr.
Geier was a cantor and a devout Jew and had packed a small
menorah and some candles in his briefcase.

“Not long after darkness,” recalls Arnold, “the train
slowed and puffed its way into a special railway station at
the German-Dutch border. We braced ourselves for our final
encounter with the German police, Nazis and Gestapo. Just a
few more miles and our old lives would be behind us.”

The train sat in the station and the Geier’s watched as the
Border Police and the Gestapo carefully compared lists and
prepared to check everyone’s passports and papers.

“Finally, small groups of officers boarded the train for
their inspection. Papa looked tense and broke out in a
sweat. I was afraid.

Suddenly, without any warning, all the lights in the
station and on the train went out. A number of people lit
matches for light and the glow on their faces was an eerie
sight. I felt like screaming.”

In the confusion, Mr. Geier stood up, managed to find his
overcoat, and pulled eight small candles out of his coat
pocket. He struck a match and lit one candle. Using that
candle he warmed the bottoms of the other candles and lined
up all eight candles on the window sill of our compartment.
He quietly recited the Chanukah blessings, and lit the
candles.

“For the first time in a long time, I saw a smile appear on
Papa’s face. Then someone shouted, ‘There’s light over
there!’ The Border Police and the Gestapo men soon came to
our compartment and used the light of the candles to
conduct their checking of the passports and papers. One of
the officers commended Papa on his resourcefulness for
thinking ahead and packing ‘travel candles.’

“About a half hour passed and then, as suddenly as they had
gone off, the lights flickered on again. The officers
thanked Papa and left our compartment to finish their work
throughout the train.”

“‘Remember this moment,’ Papa said to me, ‘like in the time
of the Maccabees, a great miracle happened here.’”

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Original Material in JPFO ALERTS is Copyright 2004 JPFO, Inc.
Permission is granted to reproduce this alert in full, so long
as the following JPFO contact information is included:

Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership
PO Box 270143
Hartford, Wisconsin 53027

Phone: 1-262-673-9745
Order line: 1-800-869-1884 (toll-free!)
Fax: 1-262-673-9746
Web: http://www.jpfo.org/