There was a Jewish man named Yankel, who had a bakery, in a town, Crown Heights, Germany. He always said, “You know why I’m alive today?”
He said “I was a kid, just a teenager at the time in Germany.
Nazis were killing Jews with no mercy.
We were on the train being taken to Auschwitz by Nazis. Night came and it was deathly cold in that compartment.
The Germans left us on the side of the tracks overnight, sometimes for days, without any food. There were no blankets to keep us warm. Snow was falling everywhere. Cold winds were hitting our cheeks, every second. We were hundreds of people in that terribly cold night. No food. No water. No shelter. No blankets “.
“The blood in our bodies started freezing. It was becoming ice.
Beside me, there was a beloved elderly Jewish man from my hometown. He was shivering from head to toe, and looked
terrible. So I wrapped my arms around him to warm him up.
I hugged him tightly to give him some heat. I rubbed his arms, his legs, his face, his neck. I begged him to try to be alive.
I encouraged him.
All night long, I kept this man warm this way.
I was tired, and freezing cold myself. My fingers were numb, but I didn’t stop rubbing heat into that old man’s body.
Hours and hours went by. Finally, morning came and the sun began
to shine. I looked around to see the other people.
To my horror, all I could see were frozen bodies. All I could hear was deathly silence.
Nobody else in that cabin were alive. That freezing night killed them all.
They died from the cold. Only two people survived: the old man and me.
The old man survived because I kept him warm… and I survived because I was warming him.
May I tell you the secret to survival in this world?
When you warm other people’s hearts, you will remain warm yourself.
When you support, encourage and inspire others, then you will discover support, encouragement and inspiration in your own life as well.
My friends, That is the secret to a happy life.”
Bear one another’s burdens and so fulfill the law of christ. Galatians 6:2.
Col Fajuyi was an incorruptible soldier who became governor of old Western Region in January, 1966, and sent words to Ekiti to stop the building of his house, which was at foundation level on Textile Road in a place called Onimosoyin in Ado-Ekiti, because the ethics of public service demands that you do not acquire anything during service. He never had a personal house when he died.Col Adekunle Fajuyi’s “native intelligence” was legendary. Some British men came to have a meeting with Fajuyi and the Secretary to the government of Western region, Pa Odumosu, because they wanted to site an industry in Ibadan. At a point, the British requested to see Col Fajuyi privately, so Pa Odumosu was asked to leave. They wanted to bribe him!. The gave him huge cash and they left. Then Fajuyi called pa Odumosu and said the British brought “our money” and he said he collected the money from them because “it was part of our money.” He then instructed him to pay the money into the government’s treasury.Col Adekunle Francis Fajuyi was an embodiment of courage and unalloyed loyalty. Suicidal loyalty!. When the head of state, Agonyi Ironsi went to Ibadan on official visit and gunshots were heard in the dead of the night, both the host and the guest were taken aback by the ugly development.The government house had been surrounded by soldiers of northern extraction in a COUNTER-COUP. In their pyjamas, Fajuyi and Ironsi went to the Governor’s office to make calls for reinforcements. Then Ironsi asked Fajuyi,”But you assured me yesterday that I was safe in your territory”.”Yes, I thought you were safe. I didn’t know anything. I didn’t hear anything. But don’t worry, the two of us will stay together. Go and dress up and I will dress up. Anything that will happen will happen to the two of us.” Fajuyi replied.The invaders broke in and before they saw the Head of State, they told Fajuyi;‘Give us Ironsi, we want Ironsi. Give us Ironsi, we want Ironsi.’Fajuyi stood his grounds and replied;‘No, you cannot take him, he is my guest. Why didn’t you take him in Lagos or elsewhere? You cannot take him here. If you are taking him, then take me along”Gallant, brave and outstanding soldier, Col Adekunle Fajuyi put his own life on the line to defend his guest and even when he was told they only wanted Ironsi, he stood by his guest and died with him.He was just 40 year-old when he took a bullet for his friend. Fajuyi was survived by aged parents and very young children. His heartbroken father died shortly thereafter.Share this post!
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