Found this draft from January (can´t sleep. And before I toss and turn and wake Ingo, here I am...).
Pics are from this book - the children in WW II called the bombs that flew on them "Christmas trees" as they looked so bright in the night...
I bought this book as I like the author (never met him, but he lives here in Braunschweig) and my family never spoke of what happened. It´s understandable, but I feel I need to learn.
Met W just outside the door the other day (in January).
His face lit up and I knew... will take some time ;-)
In 2C we chatted for likely an hour! Or likely more, brrrr... c..c...cold!
It
was "good". As in... well. Thanks to "Corinna" you not always get what
you want (he came from grocery shopping) and he told me how HUNGRY he was as kid in WW II and that it
makes him a tad mad when people whine on what they do not get these
days.OH BOY, THAT INCLUDES ME! No water for Ingo for days??? No coconut-milk???
Sometimes it was a bucket of (ordinary cow-) milk, he had to "organize" for the whole day... shared with family.
W grew up in the East, Danzig, Poland back then, like my family, a village near Königsberg, now Kaliningrad, Russia.
He saw people burning, hit by bombs.
He stopped there cause he knows I might collapse...
He saw people hiding under horse crates.
Stabbing dead horses for the meat. They ate it right there, raw.
If you think all Germans were Na#is, no.
He sat at a table with "The Russians" who shared a soup with him.
Yes, they were "enemies", but they saw a German/Polish hungry boy and asked him to the table.
It was cold, yet, even though there was material... it was not for the Germans...
And near to nowhere to get a warm place to stay...
W has a broken toe, too, but that man, 81 by now, sure hops on his bike!!!
We had a good laugh when he told me he forgot his purse/wallet, whatever you call that - happened to me also the other day!!!
With mask on you cannot THINK!
Isn´t it funny how we two always meet?
Same happened back then when his wife was still home.
Other neighbors, I meet near to never.
Ingo really a couple of times came out to look where I am, if something bad happened, when I "just quickly" wanted to go to stupid ole REWE for some cheese... He always found me with one or both.
W wanted to take his wife home over Christmas. Not possible. HOW SAD.
*Addendum... she is still in that nursing home, he never brought her home, he was not "allowed".
You can whine loudly over that.
Henry 🦁
People gathered to see Henry being brought back, some cried for joy - this treasure was hidden in Goslar in a mine for safety (now he is "hidden" in castle Danwarderode due to pollution - the one I occassionally show is but a copy (but he does not know this, don´t tell him)).
Corinna. Pfffbt. Nothing compared to this. We have food and shelter.
Atm I read another book on Holocaust. I read many a book from (!) women who escaped bad situations, followed how gay people in Muslim states became refugees.
Again... what is war good for, why can´t we simply RESPECT one another as long as we don´t hurt one another?
I just sent a book to my Nieces - I will show you. It´s about ALL that, darn it, should´ve taken more pics (it´s about animals that communicate, of course! A children´s book, I´m not cruel or dumb).
13 comments:
I´m sure you mean not bombs, but bombers (airplanes that drop bombs) All in all, your FiL survived the bombing of Dresden and escaped to Hannover with his mother (your former granny in Law. My grandfather was still German soldier in France. Fortunately long time ago.
Read the book, is right here. Think bombers looked like Christmas trees?! They threw bombs on people.
But sure you know better.
...war can bring the worst and the best out of people. Chose PEACE!
This looks like an interesting book. My uncles served and loved to tell war stories. One was in a submarine in the Pacific and my dad was in India and China. I did have one uncle flying with the RAF to drop bombs in Germany, and his plane got hit and they were able to make it into Sweden. Since he spoke fluent Swedish he stayed for the war and worked with the army there. To hear any them it had been the greatest adventure of their lives. There was never any misery in their stories. But there was so much misery, wasn't there? With so many people? For what? But the happy photo in the book is Henry coming home. Thanks for sharing Iris. We need to be reminded that war is bad and we should never try to get into one. Happy weekend.
I love how you share the stories of W. So much history. You're so kind to stop and chat with him. Your stories of him make me think of my elderly neighbor, Prissy and how much I miss her.
Scary, I once was in a submarine, scary... interesting your Uncle spoke Swedish (luckily!).
None of my family joined the war. My Father´s Father was a watchmaker and "essential", no soldier, the other ended up somehow in Russian war captivity. Never met either one and cannot ask anyone anymore.
Glad we live in a peaceful country and yay for Henry :-)
CJ, I´m sorry Prissy (what a beautiful name) is not around anymore.
Aw, you´d stop to talk to him, also, he´s a sweet man - despite all he went through - or maybe because of?
We'd appreciate what we have more if we'd give some thought to what others have had to do without. Those were hard days :(
W is lucky to have you for a neighbour!
I can't imagine living in a war.
Very well said.
Divers and Sundry, yes, sometimes we need a reminder...
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RedPat, lucky I have him! Too.
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Bill, neither can´t I, I´d give up.
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William, thank you? Just told W´s story...
I tried to tell some kids at school that not all Germans were Nazis, some didn't believe me. I even told them I was born long after the war was over, so how could I possibly be a Nazi? It was mostly the boys, who still played "war" with pretend guns, they grew out of it and things became forgotten.
Right now I am reading a book called The Tattooist of Auschwitz, based on a true story. Only two chapters read so far.
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