martyr

The word „martyr” means „witness” in Greek and Latin, one who voluntarily suffers death as the penalty of refusing to desert one’s belief, or one of its tenets. He is a witness to the truth of his belief. The martyr does not fight, he does not avenge his death on those who condemn him; he does not try to use power; on the contrary, he is a witness that man can reach a height where truth is stronger than power. He affirms his identity as a man who is true to himself, even at the expense of dying. (…) The martyr is usually alone; he is in the hands of enemies who sneer at him and make him feel that he is a fool. (…) ― The martyr represents the utmost of spiritual or, if you please, human self-affirmation; the hero represents the utmost of biological affirmation. The human race may owe its physical survival to the heroes; it certainly owes its spiritual survival to the martyrs. ― (1990s [1967] Martyrs and Heroes, in: Fromm Forum (English version) No. 13 (2009), Tuebingen (Selbstverlag) 2009.)