We recently visited Nuremberg and Hitler’s rally grounds. As we spent the day wandering through the different sites, I felt heavy hearted. I felt ghosts hovering because of what happened there–the rallies, the marching, the confinement, and the executions.

More than 150,000 prisoners of war, civilians and forced laborers were confined in this place during the war. In 1939, railroad tracks at the Märzfeld Station in the rally grounds were used to transport these prisoners to labor camps, work crews and armament factories.

Prisoners at these rally grounds were housed in camps in extremely cramped conditions. More than 5000, especially the Soviet prisoners of war, died of deprivation, exhaustion, starvation, sickness and execution. They were compelled to work making war materials and clearing rubble after air raids.

For 2,000 Jews from the Franconia region, the Märzfeld Station was the point of departure to the extermination camps. The two largest deportation trains, each carrying about 1,000 people, left on November 29, 1941, for the Jungfernhof concentration camp near Riga (Latvia), and on March 24, 1942, for Izbica near Lublin (Poland). 2,373 citizens of Nuremberg are known to have been among those murdered in the National Socialists’ persecution of the Jews.

These photos give us an idea of what happened at these rally grounds.

Notice the following: Masses of soldiers in a square; Hitler on a balcony; the precision of the soldiers; their looks, their uniforms, their boots; arms uniformly raised in a heil Hitler; personal identity lost in a crowd; swearing loyalty oaths and allegiance; a dictated and universal purpose; threats of death if you turn away.

Now I want you to visualize another place not far from here–the temple.
Oh the contrast!

Could these two places be more opposite?
One based on peace, one based on fear.
One motivated by love, the other by hate.
One to build a Kingdom, the other to destroy kingdoms.
One to serve a God who knows us better than we know ourselves, the other to serve a man who could not care less about you or your personal life.
One where we are invited to sacrifice our all for an eternal benefit, the other asked for personal sacrifice to avoid punishment or retribution.

In the temple, we sit in rows, dressed white. There is no distinction between class, race or nationality. We also raise our arms in unison, but to make covenants with our God, covenants that will bring us peace, protection and happiness.

In the temple, we are surrounded by good people, friends and strangers who are giving their time to bless someone they’ve probably never met, as proxy ordinances are attended to.

In the temple we feel peace, heavenly peace. The cares of the world melt away. Our hearts are lifted, inspiration flows, and we leave more determined to add to the good in the world.

I am grateful to be near a temple and to go there often. The temple saves us and those we love. I feel the contrast now more than ever. I am so grateful to know and follow God’s plan for me.