I can almost feel the weight of these memories sitting on her heart for all those years with no way to lift them off. As terrible as the story is, it's the silence that has affected me most.
This chapter was excruciating to read. A vivid and unsparing picture of the very worst atrocities man can commit against his fellow man contrasted with the resilience of those who retained their humanity in the face of such evil.
I can't imagine how painful it was for you to probe and uncover this history, Alice. Yet you have managed to bring it to light in this clear-eyed account, suffused with deep sadness and love for your mother.
I have goosebumps reading your vivid account. It is crucial that these stories be told, by us if not always by those in the generation that suffered the atrocities, and that history be remembered. Thank you.
This is truly heartbreaking Alice, and while I have heard and read many such stories, I have never known anyone whose mother...
What we read is simply awful. Your mother suffered what you share with us and I believe you are brave to wade into your parents' histories. Brave and very loving.
Too many of those whose lives were permanently scarred by the atrocities of WWII kept their stories to themselves, ostensibly to save their children from the horror. Sadly, the effects of their experience were invariably revealed in other ways. As children, we could not fathom the behaviour that did not match the world we now lived in.
I've read this twice and echo what Susie writes; it's the silence.
I can almost feel the weight of these memories sitting on her heart for all those years with no way to lift them off. As terrible as the story is, it's the silence that has affected me most.
This chapter was excruciating to read. A vivid and unsparing picture of the very worst atrocities man can commit against his fellow man contrasted with the resilience of those who retained their humanity in the face of such evil.
Thank you.
I can't imagine how painful it was for you to probe and uncover this history, Alice. Yet you have managed to bring it to light in this clear-eyed account, suffused with deep sadness and love for your mother.
I have goosebumps reading your vivid account. It is crucial that these stories be told, by us if not always by those in the generation that suffered the atrocities, and that history be remembered. Thank you.
This is truly heartbreaking Alice, and while I have heard and read many such stories, I have never known anyone whose mother...
What we read is simply awful. Your mother suffered what you share with us and I believe you are brave to wade into your parents' histories. Brave and very loving.
Great storytelling here, though, as awful as it is.
Too many of those whose lives were permanently scarred by the atrocities of WWII kept their stories to themselves, ostensibly to save their children from the horror. Sadly, the effects of their experience were invariably revealed in other ways. As children, we could not fathom the behaviour that did not match the world we now lived in.
What your Mom (and others) endured is heartbreaking. I can't imagine what it was like for you to uncover her story, your countrymen 's story.
Thank you for enlightening me.