President Lincoln and the Sioux Indian uprising in Minnesota in 1862

[Eva Elisabeth]

(10-12-2014 12:17 PM)L Verge Wrote:  Thank you for teaching us a personal lesson, Eva. I fear that too many people never bother to dig deep into the issues of what a war brings about and the underlying feelings of the people. The German people who had the means understood early what was happening and left the country, if at all possible. Not everyone has that choice, however, when evil rears its ugly head.

My grandmother's family (she had six siblings btw) owned vessels and had always been seafaring men (think that's why I'm addicted to the sea, too). They also owned some land. My grandfather's family were farmers owning land. Both families loved their land, it's not easy to give that up, so they stayed as long as possible - till the Russians knocked at their doors and they had to flee. The refugees from East Prussia were anything but wecome in the west, btw.

Another point - if you are aware of what's going on and leave, a piece of opposition leaves with you. My grandma's reply, when asked how could Hitler become that powerful and how all that could have happened, was: "I don't really know. We knew so little until it was too late". I think knowing too little and acting too late is something that shouldn't happen again.