One of the reasons that I try to avoid mentioning nationality more than necessary is that it quietly implies (especially through repetition) that the better people of the same nationality were either nonexistent or somehow responsible for their siblings’ atrocities. For some of these victims, Fascism tainted entire nationalities by sheer association:
During his interviews Menachem expressed his anger and said that he still he wished he could take revenge on the Germans who killed his younger brother. He was particularly enraged that his nine‐year‐old brother was hunted by the Germans and reportedly tied up and shot. This was after a Polish man tipped them off about his whereabouts. He said that he remained enraged about this throughout his life: I hate the Polish more than the Germans because they killed my brother by handing him over to the Germans.
Lenna expressed her unremitting rage against the Germans. I lost my whole family. I never buy anything German. People say, “forgive and forget”. To forgive, never. I don’t care what the Germans do. I don’t care how they try to make up for it. I don’t care how many generations come after. A German is always a German, forever.
Anne expressed her anger in the following way: The Lithuanians were all murderers; they took the Jews from their homes and took all their possessions. My mother and my sister were killed. I was told that my eleven‐year‐old sister begged for her life before being shot by the Nazis. Of course, I carry a grudge. I don’t like the Germans and am still angry.
One of these victims did not hold the same grudge, but, interestingly, she was actually angry at Judaists:
Miriam reported she was not angry toward the Germans and wanted to forgive them, but not forget, feeling hatred is destructive, and it spoils one’s life. However, this was a complex response, as during the interviews Miriam frequently mentioned her anger at religious Jews and Rabbis for not adequately commemorating the Holocaust and the loss of Jewish people. Why do they commemorate the exile from Egypt but there is no commemoration of the Holocaust? My father and all my family members were killed as well as six million Jews.
Nightmares were common:
In addition, he relived his experiences of being shot in his leg by a German, during his nightmares.
For decades she suffered from disturbing nightmares where she dreamed that her children were being chased by [Fascists] and although her functioning was good, she reported that at times she struggled to emotionally self‐regulate and she was prone to being irritable.
For decades she felt persecuted by horrific nightmares of [Fascists] attacking her children and she would wake up her husband by crying and shouting in her sleep.
She reported that she still suffered from nightmares.
An important point: while all Shoah survivors such as these suffer from trauma, it is a stereotype that their trauma’s effects are so extreme that they can no longer perform mundane tasks like getting out of bed. Generally speaking, that is not the case. Quoting Rich Brownstein’s Holocaust Cinema Complete:
On the contrary, Holocaust survivors are resilient, generally vibrant, well‐adjusted, normal, fully‐functioning members of society. True, they always carry the weight of the Holocaust and are certainly not dismissive of their experiences, but Holocaust survivors are not incapacitated or cartoonish, as grossly exaggerated in films.
Evens that happened today (July 28):
1942: Because of the alarming Axis advances, Moscow was forced to issue Order № 227, which criminalized unordered retreats or otherwise relinquishing one’s position.
1943: Per Operation Gomorrah, the Royal Air Force bombed Hamburg, Germany causing a firestorm that killed 42,000 civilians.
1968: Otto Hahn, a key figure in the Third Reich’s nuclear arms programme, expired.