Scattelogical ramblings and desultory humor - User's Guide

Wow, Patti. That's a powerful story.

I'd have starved long ago if it wasn't for PB & J sandwiches.

Yes - amazing story.

Patti - what a moving story. It is just amazing what terrible hardships the human spirit can overcome. Those who survived the concentration camps were amazing people!

I concur!

Don't you think we all ought to try PB as water proofing for our winter boots ? She said it worked great...but tasted better once she knew.

She was 15 ish at the end of the war, but managed on getting into Columbia to study Chemistry having had no formal education since before the war within two years of the war being over. Her father was never seen after the Nazi took him away early on (he was a note geologist) and her slightly older brother died the day after they were liberated by the Canadians. Her mother insisted on moving back to their old home and despite the fact that the people in the neighborhood stole all their belongings, she insisted on shared their US supplied rations with them as they were in terrible shape after the war with little food. When I met her in the 60's she was working on artificial hearts and then when Regan cancelled all the govt grants, she went to work translating scientific abstracts for the Petroleum Institute. She spoke 5 languages plus read Japanese. Oh, did I mention she had an old Uncle Albie that she knew as a young child before the war in Germany. He got out, but they didn't his real name was, Albert Einstein. He was married to her great aunt. Smart cookie. I have lost contact with her in NYC as she liked my X better than me. Patti

This message was edited Jan 17, 2008 10:27 PM

Wow! The story goes on with a much nicer ending!

When I lived in L.A. I used to see survivors of the war with the numbers tattooed on their wrists. Very disturbing.

when i was at ellis island in may, one thing that cropped up a lot was bananas. it seems that when the exhausted, hungry immigrants got to America (this is around 1900 - 1915), they were given food. Many of them had never seen a banana, andcouldn't imagine how you were supposed to eat such a thing.

o, and DH eats peanut butter and swiss cheese sandwiches - can't stand PB&J...

I used to eat peanut butter and pickle as a kid, forgot about that til now.

I do like PB and bananas!

That must have been horrible, Mike.

I like PB and cream cheese - great combo!

I used to work with a woman who had a number of mental problems. Both of her parents had survived the camps and when I met them, they had those numbers tattooed on their wrists too. I think their daughter, who was very bright, but who had lots of problems with paranoia and jealousy, was affected somehow by the horror her parents had experienced. Who wouldn't be, I guess. It is unimaginable to think about how that could have been allowed to happen to so many bright and good people.

Cannot imagine having survived such horror, I think I would have gone mad - except I know I would have been executed early on as unfit for work, cripple, whatever.

Harper, my kids and I lived on WIC (cereal, Kassia, I forgot cereal) and fishsticks! Unfortunately or fortunately that is still their taste in food today.

My very first husband (my age 20 - 24) was the son of German immigrants. They were (I told myself) too young to have been involved with anything bad, but I later found out that his father was in the Nazi youth and his mother lived er, downwind of one of the big ovens, which they publicized as a bakery. (Having smelled my own burned skin often enough, it doesn't smell the same to me.) Ewwww, let us pray it will never happen again, ever.

It is so hard and awful to think about, but we u>have to think about it enough to make sure it never happens again.

x, C

One of the engineers who used to work at our lab long before I did was a survivor. I had the pleasure to meet him a few times.

What an incredible story Patti. I can't even imagine the horrors she and the others lived through. Eleanor

The father of one of my friends in HS had the numbers stamped on his forearm. It, (the war), had affected him mentally. He used to regularly line up his family against a wall and take account of what they did/ did'nt do... then he beat them. Including the wife. His neighbors also verified this. "You could hear the screams sometimes at night". He also kept unusually heavy 'firepower' in his house. - then one day they moved, without a trace... ☺

That's terrible. The misery and sadness kept going, long after the war was over.

Yikes! It's remarkable how horrible events make some people better (Elie Wiesel, Anne Frank) and other people worse (WC2's friend's father). x, C

True Carrie!
Anybody seen any of the Jewish Americans series on PBS?
It's not just the Nazis & Russians that were horrible to Jews.
During our toughest economic time (The Great Depression) Jews were blamed. Lucky Lindberg was an anti-semite who praised, at least, the early nazi movement. 53% of Americans during WW2 felt the Jews were at least partially responsible for what was happening to them under the Nazis. It's an amazing documentary.
No lack of hate in the world.

Why do so many people always look for someone to blame for any and everything? Life is usually so much more complex than just fixing blame on someone. Ugh. In the case of the Holocaust, I think the entire world had a little piece of the blame, if it is necessary to assign it.

Louise, Of all the moral ambiguity in the world, can't we agree the Nazi's deserve blame? I'm not sure what you mean.

Dave, which Nazis? Hitler? Absolutely. The people who went along with him? Yes.

But kids, or youth, as we call them these days, who grew up hearing that people of a certain genetic make-up were inferior? [Like "natural athleticism" in football players?] Kids who were brought up to be obedient to their parents? If nobody ever said to them "NO, listen to what you're saying, doing, being made to believe?", I'm not sure. I'm not DISagreeing, I'm just asking. Because one year's kids are next year's movers and shakers.

x, Carrie

I wasn't aware there were any other Nazi's BUT Hitlers.

Dave - the Nazis absolutely deserve blame for the atrocities committed against so many people. I was alluding mainly to the comment that the Jews were blamed for the Great Depression when I asked why people always need to lay blame for everything. As to the holocaust, in addition to Hitler and the Nazis deserving blame, I think many just turned their heads and looked the other way, and in doing so, must share in a part of the blame.

Gotcha Louise. We agree.

Carrie I wouldn't blame kids for listening to their parents. But many adults helped in the holocaust. Others thought it was right ,and others ,in & out of Germany, looked the other way.
By the same token, many people throughout Europe risked their lives & their families lives to protect jews and others being persecuted

Dave, I agree. xx, C

All the great tragedies of human history saw great cowardice and great courage.

Dave - When I went back and read my post that was so confusing, I could see that my rambling was pretty disconnected. LOL I do think we are seeing this the same way.

Victor - that is so true - and quite profound. It is the second half of your observation that keeps hope alive in my mind.

In the documentary I saw, the man who founded the Jewish Foundation did so to research & document the hundreds /thousands of Christians who took risks to save Jews. He felt without doing so, they (Jews) would have to lay "too heavy of a stone on their children's hearts."

Pretty amazingly wise.

It sure is.

jeez - i go to CA for a week and the "ramblings and humor" thread has gone from PB&___ to Nazis and anti-semitism... (i agree - both are bad. even worse than PB& pickles.) (not to make light of a terrible thing.)

Words of wisdom, Victor.

The Fed just cut the prime rate 3/4%. We are going to need our diamond refunds now more than ever!

We also need a continuation of this thread, Victor.

I just did a new scat thread last night.

My husband's grandmother years ago converted a bunch of cash into diamonds as she saw what was going to happen when this country was eventually overthrown. Then she smuggled the diamonds out of a country in her undies. She was a smart cookie. She had my young DH and his little cousin on either hand, so they never searched her person, but did go through all her luggage looking for cash. Now it I just had some cash to convert! Patti