In World War II, one of the most destructive events involved the German Sixth Army. In the Battle of Stalingrad, the army found itself cut off from help and abandoned to perish. The final German plane out of the city carried seven bags of mail; among them were the last letters written by the German soldiers, many of them only teenagers, who were at that point freezing, starving and facing death. One of the letters read:

“In this battle, to put the question of God’s existence means to deny it. I’m sorry to say this to you, Father, who as a pastor raised me in the faith. But I have searched for God in every crater, in every destroyed home, on every corner, in every friend in my foxhole, and in the sky. God did not show himself even though my heart cried to him…on earth there was hunger and …