Messages from a Martyr

“He hardly finished his last prayer when the door was opened and two evil-looking men in civilian clothes came in and said, ‘Prisoner Bonhoeffer, get ready to come with us.’ Those words, ‘come with us,’ for all prisoners had come to mean only one thing—the scaffold. We bade him good-bye . . .. ‘This is the end,’ he said, ‘For me the beginning of life, . . .’ Next day, at Flossenburg, he was hanged!”

Those were the last cold days before the Allied liberation of Nazi Germany. The executed prisoner was Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German Protestant minister and theologian who died on April 9, 1945—nearly sixty years ago—and whose influence has grown ever since.

Over the next few weeks, I plan to include an occasional post about Bonhoeffer. I'd be glad to hear your thoughts and reactions regarding his life and work.