At the Eichmann trial 50 years ago, a young holocaust survivor testified about an incident where Auschwitz guards called the prisoners out to see one young boy getting punished. He describes:
“Usually they'd give 25 lashes. This boy withstood the punishment and didn't let out a sound. That made the tormentor angry and he continued beating him – 30, 35, 40 lashes. And still the boy didn't cry out. We ourselves couldn't take it anymore. But the soldier continued hitting him all over – on his legs, face, stomach, wherever the whip landed.
“When he got to 50, and the boy was already on the ground, he threw away his whip and left in disgust. We ran over to the hero, picked him up and washed him off. 'What did you do to get this punishment?' we asked him.
He could barely talk, but he said, “I brought siddurim (prayer books) to the barracks. It was worth it. I'm glad I did it.'"
Living
They tell a story about a man who risked his life by swimming through the treacherous riptide to save a youngster being swept out to sea.
After the child recovered from the harrowing experience, he said to the man, "Thank you for saving my life.”
The man looked into the little boy's eyes and said, "That's okay, kid. Just make sure your life was worth saving."
"There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle," Albert Einstein said.