The Faithful Spy

It is good to remind ourselves, in this season of waiting, who we’re waiting for. We’re waiting for the coming of our savior: our Jewish savior. While we tend — perhaps prefer — to think of Jesus as the first Christian, that’s an anachronism and a falsehood. Jesus was born a Jew, lived his life as a Jew and most definitely died a Jew. The fact of Jesus’s Jewishness is important, now more than ever.

Anti-Semitism is on the rise. Eleven people were killed, six injured, at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh in October. The New York Times recently ran an article titled “Is It Safe to Be Jewish in New York?” in which it reported that half of all hate crimes in the city this year have been anti-Semitic.

Given such events, “The Faithful Spy” is the perfect book to read this Advent. A graphic novel, beautifully rendered in a limited palette of red, brown, teal and white, the book details the life — and death — of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. The German pastor, after witnessing first-hand the injustice of the state against the Jewish people in Berlin, dedicated his life to challenging the state — and also the German church, which became increasingly complicit in the Nazi regime, to the extent of baptizing babies in the name of Hitler instead of God. Hendrix writes of Bonhoeffer:

“He knew a church unwilling to stand up for suffering Jews would eventually stand for nothing. As he pointed out, under [Nazi regulations], Saint Peter, Saint Paul and Jesus himself would not be allowed inside a German Christian church!”

Bonhoeffer founded his own seminary and church, and later moved to New York to escape forced service, only to return to Germany to answer what he knew was his life’s call: resisting the Nazis. He operated as a double agent, assisting in a foiled plot to assassinate Hitler. Eventually, he paid the ultimate price for his convictions. Bonhoeffer was hanged at Flossenbürg in April 1945, just two weeks before the Allies liberated the camp.

Hendrix’s illustrations are stunning. He visually juxtaposes the power of the monstrous Nazi machine with the vulnerable-looking, bespectacled and ever-principled Dietrich Bonhoeffer to great effect. On one double-page spread, the state is depicted as an oversized spear-wielding monster of a man, mouth open, bearded, eyes dead, while Bonhoeffer stands small yet resolute upon a rock. It is David versus Goliath. It is good versus evil.

This is not a comprehensive biography of Bonhoeffer’s life — those books already have been written — but Hendrix’s graphic novel brings a fresh perspective to the life of a great man. It presents an overview of Bonhoeffer’s life against an easily digestible history of Nazi Germany. It is a carefully researched and reverent book, and Hendrix makes his aim clear. He writes:

“Part of my interest in telling the story of Dietrich Bonhoeffer is to offer his first-person witness to how a majestic nation can unwillingly become a puppet for evil … [R]ecent history has shown humanity has not been permanently vaccinated against tyrants.”

Bonhoeffer demonstrates that a life lived in real faith requires action. This book reminds us that a passive church can be easily co-opted for evil, and that it is our responsibility to resist.

Judaism is the foundation on which Christianity rests; our founding fathers — and mothers — were Jews. We need to remember where we came from. We need to learn from the atrocities of the past and challenge the atrocities of the present. We need to stand shoulder-to- shoulder with the Jewish people, our brethren.