What happened to those who died in the Holocaust

I had a friend asked me once what happened to those who died in the Holocaust and I didn't know what to say. What is the best answer for this impossible question?

Impossible question is an understatement! Theologians and ministers have debated this question for years. Most have tried to avoid it (or resorted to dual covenantalism) because no matter how one answers it, someone will be offended.

In fact, a few years ago on Larry King Jim Bakker stated that he believed everyone who died in the Holocaust would be in heaven because he could not see how God could send anyone who suffered such a death to hell. To say that his response created a firestorm would be an understatement. Because then how do you explain John 14:6 and Acts 4:12 which clearly state that no one can come to God except through Jesus?

This impossible question creates an impossible conundrum. I had a very dear friend who survived the Holocaust but I still begged him to believe in Jesus because I want his to be the third face I see in heaven after Jesus and my dad. Was I being insensitive or cruel by sharing the need for a personal relationship with Jesus to him after all that he had been through? No, in fact I was illustrating my deep care, love and compassion by telling him that while the memories of those horrible years would not go away until he died, he could still find hope, meaning and peace through Messiah Jesus.

So to answer the question. The only way that any human will enter the gates of heaven is if we have a personal relationship with the Messiah Jesus (John 14:6). And the cruelest thing that we could do is not to tell everyone we meet about the love and mercy and compassion of Jesus. A Messiah who bore our pain, understands our grief and can give us comfort for our hurts. From a skinned knee to the worst that man can do to man, Jesus is the only answer for all of us.