It was late in 1944 and World War II was clearly nearing its fiery end. However, American soldiers were still being shipped overseas to fight in this terrible war. Roddie Edmonds, a young man from Knoxville, Tennessee, was one of them. He was just twenty-five years old at the time, but he had applied himself and quickly risen to the rank of master sergeant.
After arriving in Europe, he was immediately caught up in the Battle of the Bulge. This was to be Germany’s last major offensive, and it caught the Allies completely by surprise. Being new and inexperienced soldiers, Roddie Edmonds and his men were quickly captured and shipped to a prisoner-of-war camp in the heart of Germany. It was there that a memorable act of courage took place.
There were about 1,275 American prisoners-of-war in their part of the camp, and since Roddie Edmonds was the highest ranking non-commissioned officer among the men, he became responsible for answering to the commander of the camp for them. On the very first day at the camp, the American prisoners were instructed to have all of the Jewish soldiers remain standing after roll call the next morning. Adolph Hitler, the leader of Germany, had a plan called the Final Solution. Energized by Satan, he intended to kill as many Jews as he could. He oversaw the murder of about 6 million Jews — how tragic for God’s chosen people!
True Courage
When Roddie Edmonds heard the news, he determined that he was not going to allow the Jews to be singled out for death — instead, he instructed all of the men to remain standing after roll call. Sure enough, true to his word, after roll call the next morning he remained standing along with the 1,275 other American soldiers. The camp commander was very angry and demanded of Edmonds, “All of you cannot be Jewish!”
Edmonds responded, “We’re all Jews here.”
Again, the camp commander ordered, “I’m commanding you to have your Jewish men step forward.”
Edmonds refused, saying that the Geneva Convention only allowed him to give the prisoners’ names, ranks and serial numbers. By now, the camp commander was truly furious! He pulled out his gun and held it to Edmonds’ forehead, demanding: “You will have your Jewish men step forward or I will shoot you on the spot.”
With great courage Edmonds responded, “If you shoot, you will have to kill all of us, and you will have to stand trial for war crimes after we win this war.”
Though he was still furious, the commander put his gun in his holster and walked away. How relieved and happy those men were! How thankful the Jewish prisoners were that their lives had been spared because of the courage of one man! We can all admire the courage of Roddie Edmonds, and yet the Bible, God’s Word, tells us of One who did far more for us than risk His life for us. Because we are sinners and unfit for God’s presence, the Lord Jesus came down to this earth to die on Calvary’s cross. “When we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly” (Romans 5:66For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. (Romans 5:6)). Just as those Jewish soldiers were helpless and could not save themselves, so we were helpless and could not save ourselves or make ourselves fit for the presence of a holy God. God loved us so much that He devised a wonderful plan of salvation. “God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:88But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)). When we repent of our sins, trusting in the work that was done on the cross, we can be sure of eternal salvation. “Being now justified [being made right with God] by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him” (Romans 5:99Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. (Romans 5:9)).
True Motive
Roddie Edmonds never told anyone, not even his family, about this incident. Over twenty years after his father’s death, his son Chris decided to do a Google search on his father to see what he could find. To his surprise, he came across an interview with a Mr. Tanner, who mentioned that he had been saved from likely death in a Nazi prisoner-of-war camp due to the efforts of Roddie Edmonds. When he was finally able to meet Mr. Tanner, he learned of his father’s heroic act of courage. Using his father’s war diary, he was able to contact two other fellow-soldiers who confirmed the story. One of them, Paul Stern, who was 19 years old at the time, was standing next to Roddie Edmonds and heard and saw the whole exchange. “Although 70 years have passed,” Stern said, “I can still hear the words he said to the German camp commander.”
It was estimated that there were about 200 Jewish-American soldiers whose lives were saved that day. The Holocaust Museum in Israel, Yad Vashem, honored Roddie Edmonds as a “Righteous Among the Nations,” an award given to non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust. When asked why his father would risk his life in this way, his son replied that his father had given his life to Jesus Christ before he joined the service and that “he thought it was part of his responsibility, his duty, not only as a soldier of the U.S. Army to protect his men, but also as a Christian, a man of faith, to do the right thing for his fellow man.”
If you are a Christian, you should never stop thanking and praising the Lord Jesus for giving His life for you. Christians can say, “We love Him, because He first loved us” (1 John 4:1919The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. (John 4:19)). Our Lord said, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:1515And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. (Mark 16:15)). We have good news to share, so let us honor Him in whatever we do or say!
Find out more about a true Saviour in Saviours of the Jews at Riga.