Relationships matter

"I knew the people who worked for me... When you know people, you have to behave towards them like human beings." - Oskar Schindler

I once heard a story. It went like this - a Jewish man lived in Germany. He was a friendly man, and everyday he would take a walk, and on this walk, he would greet the local constable with a hearty, "Hello, Herr X."
The Nazis rise to power, and this Jewish man is eventually shipped off to the deathcamp. He is weak and feeble, but one one of the daily forced marches he recognizes an SS guard and shouts his hearty, "Hello, Herr X!" The guard responds in a friendly way, and the next day, the Jewish man is assigned to a much less severe/taxing position in the camp. He ends up living through the war, and when asked about it, he responded to the effect of, "A friendly greeting goes a long way."

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I was young when I saw my first Holocaust Survivor speak. I was 14, maybe 15. Poppa Something (Golda?) was speaking at Harmony Cafe, and the girl I was interested in knew him and wanted to go see him. I still remember some of the things he said, 8 years later. I still remember the question I asked him. The major thing that I remember is when he talked of the local Christian kids throwing rocks at him and fellow Jews and generally treating them poorly. When QnA came around, I stood up, flushed in the face and nervous, "Did you ever harbor ill feelings towards those Christian children." The question wasn't half out of my mouth before he said, "Never. Not for one second."

As long as I live, I'll always remember that old, big, smiling, Holocaust surviving Jewish man answering my question with such sincerity and the lesson it taught me. He was treated as subhuman by these children, but never did he think worse of them.
A lesson in forgiveness. In humility. In grace/mercy.