There's Always One

...at the very least.

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
--John 15:13 (KJV)

In the midst of demons, an angel makes an appearance.

Allison Kaplan Sommer translates into English a story on the Beslan massacre from the Hebrew press. Here’s the first part.

In an act of unlimited devotion and dedication, to the bitter end, an elderly teacher insisted on remaining with his students. He protected them, bandaged their wounds, and with his death, saved their lives.

Children who escaped from the school told of how they owed their lived to elderly Yanis (Ivan) Kanidis, age 74 – a man of Greek origin who worked as a gym teacher at the school [Beslan School # 1]. He was among the hundreds of teachers, students and parents taken hostage last week when Chechen rebels invaded the large school.

On Thursday, in what was an unusual humanitarian move in the midst of the horror, the terrorists agreed to allow a group of women and babies to leave the building. The commander of the terrorist squad, saw Kanidis -- a sickly elderly man -- and offered to allow him to walk free as well.

But Kanidis refused. “I will stay with my students till the end,” the teacher insisted.

The entire translation is found here.

(Thanks to AllahPundit)

Comments

[torchy]

This is the perfect counterpoint to the tales of horror coming from Beslan. Like the story of Flight 93 this act of courage and many like them are what we should celebrate and consider the "real stories" of this and any tragedy. Catastophe reveals the worst of life and compells the best from humanity.