“My religion is very simple.
My religion is kindness.”
–Dalai Lama
Wladyslaw Szpilman was an established polish pianist of Jewish decent during the World War II. After the German invasion of Poland, a Warsaw Ghetto with which all the Jews were separated from the rest of the Nazi occupied region. He continued to display his passion for the musical instrument even within the ghetto, finding work wherever possible. As all others were being deported to other concentration camps, a member of the Jewish Police, Jerzy Lewinski, discovered Szpilman and prevented his deporting and instead kept him as a labourer in Warsaw where he was able to hide for many years with the help of his friends and wives until one day when a German officer by the name of Wilm Hosenfeld discovered him hiding in an abandoned building.
Hosenfeld, upon acknowledging that Szpilman was a pianist, asked him to play a song after which he offered him asylum and showed him kindness on numerous occasions, like when he would offer his own coat to him or when he would bring to him bread and jam.
This event went to show a great deal about the diversity of the kinds of individuals even during the time of intense war. There are still some who don’t let go of their morals and beliefs and try to create some sort of a light of the situation dominated by injustice and bloodshed.