I am as far removed from the actual events of World War II as one can be.
I am not old enough to have lived through it, have had to fight for it, sacrificed for it or have first hand knowledge of the loss of it.
I learned some things about it when I went through my school years. Most things, I couldn’t possibly understand or connect with at that time.
Eventually I entered a career that took me into people’s homes. Elderly people. Men and women both. Men and women who were both there. Or men and women who were ‘here’ while someone they loved was there. Some were veterans, some were the spouses of veterans, some were parents of veterans, some were parents of those who never returned. Some were siblings of those who went, and returned, didn’t return, or returned as a person that was merely a shell of the person they once knew. Each story different. Each way of dealing with the memory, the loss, the experience, different.
I developed a habit of sitting with these people and seeing them, almost, in sepia. Their faces different, younger, stronger. Their clothing different, from another era. I would see them as they were during the memories they shared.
I never asked for a story because I felt it was each individual’s right to do with their story what they wanted. I respected their silence, and I respected their sharing. Whatever they needed to do with their story I wanted to make sure I understood it was theirs.
I learned from sitting with people in their homes the history I quickly came to respect, and research on my own because of them.
One day I had to go to a man’s house who I had not yet met.
When he let me in he was harsh, direct, angry.
His accent was strong, heavy, as if he had only been ‘here’ a short time.
As we sat down at a table I pulled out my paperwork. I had to ask him questions. Many questions.
I found his demeanor off-putting. I couldn’t figure out why he was so angry. I felt it was very direct and personal towards me. I had introduced myself, told him where I was from and why I was there. I had asked of him what I should call him, not assuming I should use the familiarity of his first name. I honored his request of what to address him by.
I desperately wanted to connect with him. I couldn’t figure out how. He was, to my recollection, the angriest man I had had to speak with in my career to that point.
At one point I said “can I ask where you are from? I love your accent.” He glared at me and said “no you may not, complete your business”. He was so very angry that it took me aback. It threw me off so much so that I stuttered and couldn’t even remember what I was asking. I remember thinking he must think of me as incompetent.
As we sat at the table across from one another his left arm was lying on the table. His left hand not far from my right hand, as I wrote information he supplied. As I glanced up to ask another question my eyes went up from my paper, over the table and his hand to look up at his face. As my eyes scanned that short distance I saw a tattoo on his arm. I had seen this before. But only in pictures. In movies. In books I had read.
It was a tattoo of a series of numbers.
I knew what that was.
And there, at that little table, was the reality I would never be able to grasp.
The reality of war. The reality of human beings treating other human beings as if they do not matter. The reality of human beings going to war to fight the atrocities of inhuman acts.
I was no longer removed from the horror of war. I am not assuming his war experience had anything to do with his anger towards me.
But I could not unsee what I had I seen.
And no matter what his reason for being angry towards me I could not blame him for being angry.
Because I could not unsee what I imagined he had seen.
No matter my imagination it could not compare to his reality.
When I left that home I never saw him again.
But I think of him.
Often.
He has been gone for a long time now. And though I do not know his story. I know it matters.
I hope he has found peace.
These heartfelt stories of yours, you always depict the atmosphere, and you’re able to give your version so astutely, and with your forgiving insight. I cried for your angry man with the strong accent, and I too imagined how much his soul had been tormented and forever damaged, and how many years of his “real” life had been stolen from him. xxx
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I think about him often Ivor. I have ‘touched’ this war in some regards, now, through many people who were actually there. I wish I had been better skilled at interacting with him. Of course it’s not my ‘fault’ that I didn’t know his story, and I don’t know that his story had anything to do with the anger. But I didn’t want him to be angry for any reason. It takes me a while to remember I do not have that kind of power. Thank you for your tears.
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I’m afraid war is at fault ……..
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You are so right.
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🤔😏
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Oh my goodness that gave me shivers. So nicely and respectfully recounted. You are very kind.
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Thank you Neilsonanita. I think about him often. I wish I could have relieved, at least, his anger towards me.
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that gave me chills. the stories those numbers could tell…. you were so understanding and respectful, the perfect person to be there, without pushing him further than he was comfortable with –
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It still haunts me Beth. One, that I couldn’t relieve or at least know what his anger was about (pertaining to my visit) and two, I wanted to be respectful and am a bit ashamed that I wanted to know. I wanted him to talk to me. For many reasons, that being one of them. But I did not ask anything that was not required of me to ask after I asked about his accent. I did respect that.
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wow!!!
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Thank you.
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His untold story is haunting. I hope he found peace, too.
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THank you Linda. I truly hope so.
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MBC, you really saw the telltale sign of man’s atrocity to man, translated from the history books to the flesh and soul. It sears still.
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It does MBM. Well stated. Thank you.
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❤️
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❤
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So many untold stories, unknown horrors, so much unexplained sadness, or anger. I hope he saw the innate goodness in you that we see, and I hope that he found peace.
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You are kind Peter.
I wrote a piece that I just couldn’t finish, about all of the stories that we will never know, the family lines that were murdered.
I hope all of these wishes for peace for him are felt by him.
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❤️
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❤
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Powerful writing. Powerfully humbling.
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Thank you Koji.
I am oft times ashamed when I complain about life….
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Having spent many years in nursing, I learned a few important lessons along the way. One of them…it is far easier to heal wounded bodies than wounded minds.
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That is so very true Ellen. Often times it is near impossible.
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Hmm ….don’t want to say any words in response. Thank you for sharing.
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Thank you for reading Infinite.
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Very welcome.
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What a powerful experience and a powerful and meaningful story to share, Colleen. I’m very moved just to read of your difficult encounter, and to consider the shift in your awareness through the symbol of those numbers. You couldn’t know his specific story, but you had plenty, with those numbers, to rightfully assume, and that’s a staggering amount of information to take in while sitting at his table and trying to conduct some business. I will be thinking of this for some time myself!
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Thank you Debra. I think you just defined something for me that I hadn’t quite defined all of these years. It was a tremendous amount of information that initiated an immediate shift in my perspective. Though I still don’t ‘know’ his anger (it could be because I was being intrusive, or any number of reasons) origin, I also still can’t help but not blame him. I don’t like people being angry at me. I don’t deal with that. And that situation has never left me. Thank you for this feedback.
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Essential learning comes from truly listening. He was a teacher for you and because you took the time to share this, a teacher for all of us reading. Thank you.
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Thank you Ali, I do need to add this to my perspective. I have a feeling I will learn more, for a long time, from this. I think that is something I ‘can’ do in memory of he and all who went through what he went through. It is so very minimal on my part, but we must keep learning. Again, thank you for this.
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What I got from your writing was the power of your listening and because of your intention what you learned from this man. You already know this, I just highlighted for you.
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Thank you, I can always use a highlight. 🙂
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Wow. Such a thing to see first hand. May he somehow have found forgiveness and for his soul to be at rest.
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My prayer as well PIF.
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I too have seen such numbers on a fellow human’s wrist. They’re burned into my memory. Here was a person who may have lost some or all of their family, experienced almost unimaginably terrible things, and survived it all. The numbers on his wrist spoke more eloquently to me than a picture painting a thousand words.
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Thank you Russ, for saying this so eloquently. Those numbers represent horror. And when I saw them, I saw strength.
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