The last time I saw my great-uncle, he uttered six words that I will never forget. Struggling to speak, as he was already 102 years old, his mouth slowly formed each syllable with excruciating effort: "Nazis… are… bastards… Shoot… to... kill!"
My mother and I laughed. We were visiting Dr. Merrill Stern — retired New Jersey dentist and former officer in the United States Army Air Corps (a precursor to the Air Force) — after receiving a dire update about his health. When we had first arrived, Uncle Merrill saw my beard and in sincere confusion exclaimed, "Rabbi!" My mother soon clarified who I was, and he indicated that he recognized me. The conversation evolved to the subject of my occupation; I reminded him that I'm a professional writer, and he asked how I was doing. At that moment I was dealing with a wave of targeted, antisemitic online harassment, but Uncle Merrill could not keep up with the complicated story surrounding the episode. I then tried a simpler approach: I told him that I was dealing with Nazis at my job. This prompted his "shoot to kill" remark — and, as a World War II veteran who fought in Europe, I soon realized that he was not joking around. Lest I harbor any doubt, it was quickly dispelled because Uncle Merrill responded to my mother's and my laughter by slowly yet emphatically exclaiming, "I'm… not… joking… around!"
