This is deeply meaningful to me. As a boy Stalin’s soldiers murdered my father’s family, leaving him an orphan, at what age unknown. He was in a displaced persons (DP) camp for years. When he was going to be shipped to Siberia a Christian org helped him escape. During the escape they were rounded up into a barn by Nazi’s and were going to be burned alive. How did they get out? US soldiers saved them. My father made it to the USA, alone, at the age of 13. I don’t think I will ever know the details of his youth, he never talked about it. We didn’t know his real name until after he died. But I am reading about the time 1937 to 1950, in an attempt to understand, and find compassion for, the man that was my father, who was sadly broken.
Thank you for sharing this. I don’t know if he was an ethic German or another minority, but such people were victimized by both the Soviets and the Nazis. For orphans the records can be difficult to discover, but keep studying the period. What you are doing is important. I wish you the best and peace this holiday season.
sent too soon…There are also documents suggesting he might be Ukrainian. All I am sure of is he loved soccer and helped establish the sport in Redmond, Washington, when most Americans scoffed at the sport.
Interesting on both counts. If Ukrainian, they were brutalized by both Stalin and the Nazis. Timothy Snyder’s book “Bloodlands, Eastern Europe Between Hitler and Stalin is a must read.
Our eldest son was deployed to Iraq, ‘06-‘07, as a part of the Iraqi police transition program, which he believed had little utility. Our son was an Air Force security forces NCO, retired a couple of years ago. He has worked his way through PTSD and physical disabilities. Seems to be in a better place today.
I admire men like your son. I am doing better, but 17 years later the severe chronic PTSD and sleep disorders still plague me. I do wish him the best. The advisor teams were exceptionally difficult duty, and that could be worse based on where you were and where you were stationed. Most of my advisors were with the 1st and 7th Iraqi Divisions and the 2nd Border Brigade which were exceptional by Iraqi standards. The police, not so much. I know quite a few advisors whose experiences were very traumatic.
Thank you for your comment and by my regards to your son. Let him know that he is not alone.
Wishing you the best and peace this holiday season.
It's an honor to be on this list of your respondents.
My family was safely tucked away in New Jersey during the War Years.
The grandparents had fled the Austro-Hungarian Empire before the 1917.
The lack of information that has been passed down to the descendants is staggering.
As a curious child born in 1948, my questions were rebuffed or ignored.
Thank you filling in the gaping holes. I have traveled to Russia and Poland in pursuit of answers, and researched and written, in an effort to connect the dots to the next chapter of our evolution as a species.
This is deeply meaningful to me. As a boy Stalin’s soldiers murdered my father’s family, leaving him an orphan, at what age unknown. He was in a displaced persons (DP) camp for years. When he was going to be shipped to Siberia a Christian org helped him escape. During the escape they were rounded up into a barn by Nazi’s and were going to be burned alive. How did they get out? US soldiers saved them. My father made it to the USA, alone, at the age of 13. I don’t think I will ever know the details of his youth, he never talked about it. We didn’t know his real name until after he died. But I am reading about the time 1937 to 1950, in an attempt to understand, and find compassion for, the man that was my father, who was sadly broken.
Arlene,
Thank you for sharing this. I don’t know if he was an ethic German or another minority, but such people were victimized by both the Soviets and the Nazis. For orphans the records can be difficult to discover, but keep studying the period. What you are doing is important. I wish you the best and peace this holiday season.
Sincerely,
Steve
His real name comes up as ethnic Kyrgyzstani,
sent too soon…There are also documents suggesting he might be Ukrainian. All I am sure of is he loved soccer and helped establish the sport in Redmond, Washington, when most Americans scoffed at the sport.
Interesting on both counts. If Ukrainian, they were brutalized by both Stalin and the Nazis. Timothy Snyder’s book “Bloodlands, Eastern Europe Between Hitler and Stalin is a must read.
Our eldest son was deployed to Iraq, ‘06-‘07, as a part of the Iraqi police transition program, which he believed had little utility. Our son was an Air Force security forces NCO, retired a couple of years ago. He has worked his way through PTSD and physical disabilities. Seems to be in a better place today.
Michael,
I admire men like your son. I am doing better, but 17 years later the severe chronic PTSD and sleep disorders still plague me. I do wish him the best. The advisor teams were exceptionally difficult duty, and that could be worse based on where you were and where you were stationed. Most of my advisors were with the 1st and 7th Iraqi Divisions and the 2nd Border Brigade which were exceptional by Iraqi standards. The police, not so much. I know quite a few advisors whose experiences were very traumatic.
Thank you for your comment and by my regards to your son. Let him know that he is not alone.
Wishing you the best and peace this holiday season.
Steve Dundas
It's an honor to be on this list of your respondents.
My family was safely tucked away in New Jersey during the War Years.
The grandparents had fled the Austro-Hungarian Empire before the 1917.
The lack of information that has been passed down to the descendants is staggering.
As a curious child born in 1948, my questions were rebuffed or ignored.
Thank you filling in the gaping holes. I have traveled to Russia and Poland in pursuit of answers, and researched and written, in an effort to connect the dots to the next chapter of our evolution as a species.