I actually know a woman whose parents had to make that choice.
She was born in Lithuania. When she was a young girl the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact fell apart. Her parents had to make a choice...do we want to raise these kids under Hitler or Stalin?
They chose Hitler. They were guest workers at a factory in Germany, at least until the British bombed their house. They ended up in a refugee camp and, eventually, here.
Talk about your Sophie’s Choice!
My grandparents got the same choice. My father’s family ended up in one of Hitler’s camps, temporarily, but it was better than being shipped to Siberia. My parents still remember the block-by-block roundups in the Baltics, and are afraid of what’s happening in this country now.