WOW! Really interesting pieces of history. Thanks for sharing.
Anyway ... I'm just copying and pasting from it because it applies today.
Interesting chat with my neighbor last night by a bonfire burning all the left over from the storm damage last October … his Dad was German army WW2. When the Russians started kicking their asses as the end … they all retreated towards the Americans - they were sandwiched at that point … knowing it was the lesser of two evils. He died about 2 years ago almost to the day. Henry my neighbor, not long after he died, found a 28 page diary/journal that his Dad wrote after the war to capture his experience … about the war, being a soldier. So he’s researching and writing a book (not interested in money, just a son wanting to know his Dad better. He calls today his 'reverse Memorial Day.')
If the German SS caught German army soldiers withdrawing (not deserting … withdrawing) -> they shot them on sight. (Obviously his dad wasn’t caught by the SS.)
Then there is Masha (the Russian I almost married but I remained a humble happy wood monk) … her grand dad was RUSSIAN army in the war. He was caught by the Germans, but released in a prisoner exchange during the war. If you were THAT … the Russians would put you out 150 - 300 yards in front of their advancing army (they did give you a gun, very nice of them) … so that you’d get shot first but the noise would detect the Germans. He also managed to survive that.
We are SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO lucky!
WOW! Really interesting pieces of history. Thanks for sharing.