The Purple Triangle - A Symbol of Bravery

Pictures, Poetry and Prose suggested the following prompt: Write about someone brave today.
http://picturespoetryprose.blogspot.com/2009/08/brave-men.html

The Purple Triangle-A symbol of Bravery


Wolfgang Kusserow was beheaded by guillotine in Brandenburg Prison on March 28, 1942. He was 20 years old.
On December 7, 1939, father of six, Gregor Whohlfahrt was executed by guillotine in Berlin's Ploetzensee Prison.
Thirty-four year old Johann Stossier was executed on May 7, 1944, in Sachsenhausen.
Helene Gotthold, 48 years old, wife and mother of two was executed by guillotine in Berlin's Ploetzensee Prison on December 8, 1944.

Each one of these individuals wore an inverted purple triangle on their concentration camp uniform and each one could have made a choice to walk out of the camp they were in; they did not. The word Brave is defined in each one of them and in their stories.

During the holocaust over 10,000 Jehovah’s Witnesses were thrown into concentration camps because they refused to join the German army and spoke out against Hitler. It is estimated that between two thousand and five thousand members died because they would not compromise their obedience or their faith to God Jehovah. Many were tortured and given the opportunity to walk out of the camps if they signed a paper renouncing their faith and supporting Nazi ideology; few capitulated.

Film Producer James Pellechia said: “Holocaust scholars are well aware of the danger of showing only the horrors of this era. If we ignore the stories of the resisters, we send the unspoken message that nothing could have been done, that the history could not have been different. The story of Jehovah's Witnesses shows that the Holocaust didn't have to happen. Humanity does have the capacity to stand up and speak out for what is right."

Brave is standing up for what you believe in.
Brave is not compromising.
Brave is courageous endurance.
Brave is all those who wore the Purple Triangle.

Salynne ©2009