On Oct. 2, 2006, a tragedy occurred at an Amish school in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Five Amish girls were shot to death by Charles Roberts IV. Surprisingly, the family of one of the victims expressed forgiveness toward the killer's family on the same day. And it was learned that one of the slain girls had asked to be shot first, hoping to save the younger girls.

I lived near that Amish community and had some contact with it during my 1972-73 academic year. For some time after the school shooting, I could not view the incident calmly because of my sadness and shock. However, I gradually began feeling that I should examine the tragedy and try to reveal the truth on behalf of the slain girls and their families.

The Amish trace their origins back to the Anabaptists of the Protestant Reformation. (Jacob Amman, who believed strongly that any unrepentant individual should be completely shunned, split with the Anabaptists in 1693; his followers were later called the Amish.) Severe persecution throughout Europe drove many of them into the mountains of Switzerland and southern Germany. This probably was the start of the Amish tradition of farming, and of holding worship services in homes.

When Dirk Willems, a Dutch Anabaptist, saw the sheriff who was pursuing him fall into an icy river, Willems unbelievably helped the sheriff to safety. Willems was burned at the stake in 1569. On Sept. 19, 1757, Indians attacked the home of Jacob Hochstetler, who threw away his guns. Except for the wounded Hochstetler and two sons, the rest of the family perished.

The young girl's offer of her life first in the Lancaster school shooting is similar to the behavior of Willems and Hochstetler. Amish children seem to have something very firm within them to face their enemies without fear of death. This willingness to sacrifice and forgive must be the core of the Amish way of life.

hiroshi noro