Centuries of work left for WWII bomb clearers

Swiss Politics ^ | 8/3/03 | Philip Blenkinsop

[Michael81Dus]

Sorry, I know that my grandpa was in Russia from 1941-1944 and that the other one was shipping in the North Sea. My parents know the details, I wasn´t never interested in the war history.

[Michael81Dus]

I don´t care wether the world forgives me or not for the crimes of my ancestors. I know that I ve a white vest, so why should I feel ashamed? Well, I would feel ashamed if my sister killed someone, because I would search for personal guilt of not preventing her from doing so - but what kind of influence do I have on things that happened before my birth? Some people will never understand it.

[LibKill]

You have the right attitude (good thinking). I just wish the rest of the world could get in step.

[Michael81Dus]

We won´t be silent when others want to make us silent. We will never allow people to prevent others from expressing their opinion, even if they insult us and call us "immoral".

Here in Germany, the Nazis and for the Eastern part, the Communists were the last who believed in collective guilt. For the Nazis, a jew was a jew and he was evil even if he had fought in WW1 or converted to Christianity decades ago. For the Communists, the family of a "Republic traitor" (someone who moved to the west "illegally"), was responsible for that and was punished. These days are gone, hopefully forever!

I wish you and your family a nice Sunday.

Best wishes,

Michael

[u-89]

I understand that not everyone is interested in military history but just from the human experience angle it might be worth while to find out. Forget the 3rd Reich aspect, just learning what it was like in Russia during those years and what the men suffered and endured is truly amazing. If you never read about say the winter of 41/42 I suggest you check out a couple of books on the topic. You'ld look at your grandfather in a whole new light. He survived much.

[Rstutz]

The war, like all wars was a terrible waste. I lost family in the war, on both sides. Land was lost, people were lost, lives ruined. Let us not trivialize the war and it's long lasting effects.

Der Krieg, wie alle Kriege war eine schreckliche Vergeudung. Ich verlor Familie im Krieg, auf beiden Seiten. Land war, Leute waren verloren verloren, die ruinierten Leben. Lassen Sie uns nicht trivialize den Krieg und es ist langlebige Effekte.