“The truth is incontrovertible. Panic may resent it. Ignorance may deride it. Malice may distort it. But there it is.” – Winston Churchill
Truth, honesty and integrity are big points for me. This is perhaps the reason I truly relished one of my latest reads: “The Little Liar” by Mitch Albom. Albom has a knack for inviting readers to ponder deep concepts by enveloping those sometimes-hard-to-swallow ideas in the delicious coating of an excellent story. This story was no exception.
The book follows the unfolding lives of three, young, Greek children and one German officer during the Nazi occupation of Salonika, Greece in 1941. One of these children is remarkable in that he never tells a lie – a fact that has earned him the nickname “Chioni” (Greek for “snow”) around town. The devious German officer, Udo Graff, uses the little boy’s innocence and reputation to persuade over 40,000 Jews to board trains that will ultimately bring them to their deaths. The book then expounds on the effect of this massive lie on the little boy himself, his brother, his young love, and the German officer – all the while spinning a provoking tale of heartache, grief, remembrance, love and restitution.
What truly made the book for me though, was the narrator. The entire work is written as if by Truth – an eternal enigma trapped on earth with the duty of sharing what really is and isn’t.
I found this both fascinating and painfully relevant.
Throughout the book, Albom allows for little tangents told from the perspective of truth. These tangents include biblical stories, a touch of mythology, and some pure philosophical ponderings. Each little anecdote provides the reader with an opportunity to stop, think, and apply the morals of the story to themselves, their views, and the happenings of our current world. That is why it was fascinating.
It was relevant because the book reminds us that what happened to the Jewish people during the second world war was real. That the hatred that pervaded the European continent and beyond was real. The erroneous actions of all those that sought to slaughter a people simply because of their belonging to a certain group of faith, culture or ethnicity, were real. And they were wrong.
I never thought this would be a brave thing to say, or a concept anyone would ever need to reiterate. But the current rise in antisemitism is alarming. Albom’s declarations, empowered by his captivating story inspire each of us to remember and to declare what is True.
“I am the shadow you cannot outrun, the mirror that holds your final reflection. You may duck my gaze for all your days on Earth, but let me assure you, I get the last look. I am Truth.” – Mitch Albom, “The Little Liar”
This blog post certainly rings true for me. I too am worried about the rise in antisemitism we are seeing in our country these days.