Mom's Rehab and her roommate.

[Brian37]

I'd only read about WW2 from history books and TV and going to the Holocaust Museum in DC, striking enough and scary enough. But my mom's roommate lived it. She was living in Poland at the age of 5, just to hear it from a survivor is striking. I can't even begin to imagine what that was like, especially for a kid.

[SteelCurtain]

That's a slice of culture and personal history that most people don't get, Brian. Cherish that.

[Sterben]

Listen to her, listen to her wisdom, a person that as seen the very most elements of human brutality and came out to try to live a normal life. You have a rare chance to learn history as history should be taught. Just a suggestion for you as well, write down what you can from your talks; hold this knowledge as your own and shape your life around the proper treatment of those around you that you hold close.

[Minimalist]

My dad was one of those men who never wanted to talk about the war.  It was rare when he opened up about it and even then he talked about being in the mountains for 77 straight days opposite the Gustav Line in the winter.  His main complaint?  Being unable to change his underwear.  On rare occasions something more dire would slip out, as when we were watching the beginning of Saving Private Ryan and a burning body came rolling out of a bunker after it was hit with a flamethrower.  He stood up, muttered "you never forget that smell" and walked away.

Absorb whatever you can from her Brian.  Written history never gets down to the level of detail she can provide.

[Thumpalumpacus]

Write it down. Preserve her memories.

[Sterben]

My dad was one of those men who never wanted to talk about the war.  It was rare when he opened up about it and even then he talked about being in the mountains for 77 straight days opposite the Gustav Line in the winter.  His main complaint?  Being unable to change his underwear.  On rare occasions something more dire would slip out, as when we were watching the beginning of Saving Private Ryan and a burning body came rolling out of a bunker after it was hit with a flamethrower.  He stood up, muttered "you never forget that smell" and walked away.

Absorb whatever you can from her Brian.  Written history never gets down to the level of detail she can provide.

     That's understandable that he doesn't want to remember those days, it takes a brave person to talk about it. Were so spoiled today that we don't want to remember a bad relationship, asking someone to bring a past involving seeing and killing others. My grandpa was in the war as well, he was in the English Navy. My grandma gave me his war medals, I'm not 100% sure what they mean since I'm more familiar with the German side of the war.

[Excited Penguin]

My dad was one of those men who never wanted to talk about the war.  It was rare when he opened up about it and even then he talked about being in the mountains for 77 straight days opposite the Gustav Line in the winter.  His main complaint?  Being unable to change his underwear.  On rare occasions something more dire would slip out, as when we were watching the beginning of Saving Private Ryan and a burning body came rolling out of a bunker after it was hit with a flamethrower.  He stood up, muttered "you never forget that smell" and walked away.

Absorb whatever you can from her Brian.  Written history never gets down to the level of detail she can provide.

     That's understandable that he doesn't want to remember those days, it takes a brave person to talk about it. Were so spoiled today that we don't want to remember a bad relationship, asking someone to bring a past involving seeing and killing others. My grandpa was in the war as well, he was in the English Navy. My grandma gave me his war medals, I'm not 100% sure what they mean since I'm more familiar with the German side of the war.

People's who've been in wars are still people. And people today aren't that different from those in the past. Human nature doesn't change that much in so short a span of time.

[Sterben]

Start a journal, I have a book called Gulag, if your history buff read it. It gives a lot of details into Stalin's prison camps from a first hand point of view.

[Sterben]

     That's understandable that he doesn't want to remember those days, it takes a brave person to talk about it. Were so spoiled today that we don't want to remember a bad relationship, asking someone to bring a past involving seeing and killing others. My grandpa was in the war as well, he was in the English Navy. My grandma gave me his war medals, I'm not 100% sure what they mean since I'm more familiar with the German side of the war.

People's who've been in wars are still people. And people today aren't that different from those in the past. Human nature doesn't change that much in so short a span of time.

     Quite true, I remember being a teen and asking a Vietnam vet about his war experiences. All I got out of him was "It's quite rude to ask about it, those are places in my mind I never want to return again."

[Minimalist]

My dad had a Bronze Star.  He never spoke of it and a Purple Heart.  He got the Purple Heart because a German shell brought down a building he was in.  That one he laughed off.  My mom pre-deceased him but he never spoke of the Bronze Star anyway.

After he died we were going through his stuff and I found the box with the Bronze Star.  Underneath was a copy of the citation signed by his captain.  It detailed that the award was for gallantry under fire in that he left his position to assist a wounded comrade back to American lines.

It was then that I understood why he never told her about it.  If she knew he had risked his life like that she would have killed him for the Krauts.