Nightmares

For the past several weeks I have been reading a book titled “Blood Red Snow: The Memoirs of a German Soldier on the Eastern Front” by Gunter K. Koschorrek. Last night I finished the book and the closing page of the book put a great fear in my heart and to be honest gave me nightmares. I did not sleep well at all. Below is the last page verbatim of the book and what caused my poor sleep.

“Woina kaput! The fervent wish of many people has come to pass, and the war is finally over. But will it also be over in their hearts? How long will it be until the hate and the craving for revenge is buried? Yes, I know, there are people who, despite the atrocities, have put aside hatred and seek closer bonds with their enemies. It is they who give me new hope.

But when will people realize that it is possible for any of us to be manipulated by domineering and power crazed individuals who know how to motivate the masses in order to misuse them for their own ends? While they keep well out of the way, in safety, they have no hesitation in brutally sacrificing their people in the name of patriotism. Will mankind ever stand together against them? Or are those who died in the fighting dead forever, and will the reasons they gave their lives be forgotten?

I will never be able to forget those I knew. They are the constant reminders that I was very privileged to survive them.

It is no less than my obligation to tell their story.”

In my opinion this last page strikes so close to where we are at as a country today. It sickens and worry’s me. To me this describes Trumpism almost to a “T”.

Jennifer’s Dad (as I believe I have mentioned before) was a decorated WWII veteran. He fought in the European Theater. He did not talk much about the war until his later years and most of that was about his training and his experiences after he was wounded. He never really talked (at least to us) about his experiences in the actual fighting. He did tell us about how he was wounded and how he got evacuated. But he did not talk about his combat experiences up to that point.

When he found out we were moving to Midland Texas, he told us many times that he volunteered to go to combat to get the hell out of Texas.

Anyway, if he was not already dead, the stuff going on politically in this country since 2016 would have killed him. It sickens me that so many people like Mick fought to rid the world of the Nazi regime and yet today some 79 years later, in my opinion, history is repeating itself and I am so afraid that we are about to be sitting on the wrong side of it this time.

Everyone is entitled to their own political opinions. I have made it clear that I am in no way shape or form a supporter of Donald J. Trump and never will be.

People can try and brush off his rhetoric and his actions but he and so many of his supporters are right in line with so many aspects of the Nazi regime that it is terrifying. I just pray and hope that enough of his supporters see the light and pull off the blinders and quit drinking the Kool-Aid before November 5 to keep him from ever returning to a position of power. God help us all if he is re-elected President.

Well enough political bullshit for today.

As far as the book goes, it was overall a interesting read. This gentleman had written notes throughout the war and then compiled them into his book many years after the war. He was wounded several times during the war and was eventually taken prisoner by the American forces at the end of the war while recovering from his last wound. He did some crazy life threatening things regarding his last wound to make sure he stayed a prisoner of the Americans vs being transferred to the custody of the Russians.

It was interesting to see his take on why the German soldiers kept fighting even when it was clear that they were being defeated by the Allies and the Nazi leadership was crumbling. Definitely not a book for everyone, but one I found interesting. That last page is just so scary, based on our world today.