Dov, an orphan boy, had suffered greatly in the Nazi concentration camps from 1940 to 1944 and now lived alone. He had been so badly affected by the experience of the camps that he refused to communicate with anyone. He sat in his little room all day staring at the wall. At least that is what the few neighbourly friends who had tried to advise him saw and eventually they had stopped trying to reach him.

Not so Karen; in spite of Dov’s silence and apathy she persisted in coming to see him every day. She was very determined and ingenious in her efforts to get some response from him. Eventually he began to talk to her and to show her his drawings which captured memories that had imprisoned him in his horrific experiences.

Then one day tragedy struck – Karen was killed in an accident outside the camp. People rallied round Dov for fear he would again shut himself off again but they were amazed to hear him say that things had changed for him as a result of knowing Karen. He now wanted to live in a way that would be worthy of her, and in a way of which she would be proud.

We can never know how we affect others for better or worse by our words and actions.
c/f Peter Hannah SJ, Follow your dream – Restoring lost intimacy, www.columba.ie