“Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” 

That stark warning greets anyone who pays a visit to Auschwitz, site of the Nazis’ “Final Solution.” While history has never witnessed an evil on that scale before or since, those words weighed heavily on my heart after visiting Israel and Ukraine recently, where CityServe’s humanitarian initiatives are underway and helping communities heal.

Evident in the cold-blooded attacks on civilians in Israel and Ukraine is the same palpable evil that one experiences at Auschwitz. And unless we help our allies fight the darkness that comes to steal, kill, and destroy, we may be condemned one day to face them right here in the United States.

The Selflessness of a Ukrainian Bishop

During my visit to Ukraine, I learned that one of my friends there, a Ukrainian bishop, has been placed on Putin’s “Death List” — the roster of those the Russian despot would like to assassinate. This is a man I’d stood beside at the mass graves of those slaughtered in Bucha. Together, we prayed and watered the ground with our tears.

Despite the ever-present risk of assassination, that bishop continues to serve on the front lines of a spiritual and emotional battlefield, visiting and encouraging the leaders of his churches.

It’s a selflessness you see throughout Eastern Ukraine, even in Donetsk and war-ravaged cities like Kharkiv. The pastors and church members there have survived bombings, missile attacks, and power outages that have left them shivering in the dark, huddled together in their homes and sanctuaries. Now, as another cold winter approaches, they continue to bravely fight for the cause of religious liberty — defending their God-given right to worship and, ultimately, ours as well.

The Destructive Spirit Behind Putin …

Putin isn’t satisfied, however, with merely stealing the resource-rich region of Donetsk and killing innocent Ukrainians, as seen in the recent missile strike on Poltava that hit an ROTC-style educational facility and a hospital, wounding over 200 and killing 51.

No, stealing and killing are insufficient to sate the destructive spirit behind Auschwitz and Dachau. For it also seeks to destroy. To annihilate national identity and all traces of human dignity. 

That’s what reminds me of Auschwitz.

Putin insists that the Ukrainian people he’s slaughtering aren’t actually a separate people. He claims the so-called Ukrainians and the land they occupy are actually Russian. This would mean any “Ukrainian” seeking to live free of Putin’s oppression is actually guilty of treason — and treason, of course, is punishable by death. 

You could call this Putin’s “Final Solution.” And there’s something similar going on in Israel.    

… And Hamas

On October 7, Hamas terrorists raped and killed defenseless women, executed entire families, and decapitated infants torn from their mothers’ arms. Once again, stealing and killing wasn’t enough — the objective was to annihilate, exterminate, and destroy.

One of the days we were in Israel, we visited a bomb shelter where 18 terrified Israelis — men, women, and children — were massacred by Hamas. The terrorists lobbed a grenade inside. We could see where the shrapnel from the explosion tore chunks from the concrete wall. It was hard not to imagine the flash, hear the screams, and smell the burning flesh.

More recently, the world learned Hamas terrorists had lined up six hostages in a Rafah tunnel, including American-Israeli Hersh Goldman-Polin, and killed each with multiple shots fired at close range. Israel soldiers quickly moved in but arrived too late to save them.

This level of evil perpetrated against the nation of Israel is hard to comprehend — no wonder Auschwitz comes to mind. 

Why I Had to Share

I realize these events are hard for Westerners to imagine. Yet that’s exactly why I felt I had to share them.

You see, my journeys in Ukraine and Israel have convinced me that it’s true. Those who conveniently forget the past are indeed doomed to repeat it.

I’m happy to report today that we’re all safely back home. But the bishops and pastors risking their lives every day refuse to leave their neighbors as they brace for another freezing winter. Meanwhile, in Israel, the Jewish people stay busy mourning their dead, fighting to bring home the hostages seized by Hamas, and trying somehow to return their lives to a semblance of what “normal” was before October 7.

Wicked as Nazis

Comparing these modern-day horror stories to the evil that swept through Europe less than 100 years ago isn’t sensational. It is crystal clear that Israel and Ukraine are enduring enemies as wicked as the Nazis. 

The question for the West is, will we fully acknowledge the present situation and remember that history often repeats itself?

And will we stand united against these enemies? History proves there are devastating consequences if we don’t. 

David Donaldson is the co-founder and CEO of CityServe International, a nonprofit relief organization headquartered in Washington, D.C.