Spirit Quest

‘Surely if men and women can be persuaded to become suicide bombers we can
also persuade them to become loving and caring human beings.’

By The Rev. Dr. Hanns Skoutajan

Ever since the airing of the Khadr interrogation video depicting the wrenching experiences of a teenager in a heartless and illegal prison, I have been trying to remember what it was like for me when I was 15 years of age. Undoubtedly my life was radically different from his.

The circumstances of my early years were certainly not easy. Mother and I managed to escape from the Nazis who had taken over my homeland and were looking for my father. We had left behind all our possessions and family. I had the advantage of facing this adversity in the company of a loving and devoted mother who sought to protect me physically and emotionally. We travelled together through alien territory and across dangerous borders until we were finally reunited with my father.

Omar had none of this protection, indeed he had experienced brainwashing, which sent him to war, and involved him in battle where he allegedly threw a handgranade that killed an American soldier. 

As I think about my own life I wonder what would have happened to me had we been caught. In all likelihood I would have been separated from my parents and undergone some form of indoctrination. I might have been taught to hate Jews and gypsies. This is what happened to some of my chums. 

Recently I read Guenther Grass’ last book, Peeling Onions in which he tells about his youth during Hitler’s final years. He had joined the notorious Waffen SS , the elite of Hitler’s forces who were sworn to defend the Fuehrer with their lives. In the last days of the war, there was not much choice for a young, healthy German boy. He maintains that he never fired a shot and was himself wounded and taken as a prisoner of war. He gives a riveting account of the war’s end. 

"At the time" he said, he had not felt ashamed to be a member of the SS but he added: "Later this feeling of shame burdened me. For me... the Waffen SS was nothing frightful but rather an elite unit that they sent where things were hot and which had the heaviest losses. It happened as it did to many of my age (16). We were in the labour service and all at once, a year later, the call-up notice lay on the table. And only when I got to Dresden did I learn it was the Waffen SS." Throughout his life this weighed heavily on him and finally had to come out. This was the reason for his last book. 

I recall those SS officers with the “totenkopf” (skull) insignia on their smart military caps, their shiny boots and riding breeches. They stood for everything that my parents hated and had fought against.

At the same time I must confess that a young mind is very susceptible to propaganda, the torch light parades, the thump of drums and bugle calls, the campfires, songs and rousing speeches. Hate is easily indoctrinated in young minds. An ideology of racial superiority in tandem with a conviction of the sub-humanity of all those beyond the pale, can seem very attractive. I fear that there are many who cannot grasp the power of this movement.

Bearing this in mind, I wonder about Omar Khadr. Is the destruction of his spirit, his abandonment by family and country, the only way to deal with this once child, now young adult?

I am heartened by the storm of voices crying out and assailing our prime minister to insist on his removal from Guantanamo and his rehabilitation in Canada. And I shudder at the heartlessness of those who affirm that he is getting what he deserves.

Khadr is much older now than when he was first captured. He has endured years filled with formidable pain, anxiety and above all loneliness.

I fear for his soul, but also for the souls of those who have tortured him and condemned him.

Omar Khadr has a soul. My faith believes in the saving of souls not for an eternity beyond the hells we have created. God has called us to live in this world creatively, in peace with all humanity. Surely if men and women can be persuaded to become suicide bombers we can also persuade them to become loving and caring human beings.

I believe that there is a spirit at work that can change evil into good. That spirit is a’ movin’ still.

Hanns F. Skoutajan
July 25, 2008
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More about Rev. Dr. Hanns Skoutajan’s story can be found in his excellent book Uprooted and Transplanted: A Sudeten Odyssey from Tragedy to Freedom available from Canada Books Online. — Mike Heenan, Literary Editor
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