Growing up as a #WWII brutally abused white trash foster kid….. trying to get a grasp on
Growing up as a #WWII brutally abused white trash foster kid….. trying to get a grasp on family keeping you one minute then running away…. and the insanity of after the war is over effect on people …. We used to ask beloved Uncle Harold #WWII survivor….. who only felt comfortable around kids and animals for years…. ‘Are you sure we won the war uncle harold under the old apple tree…. as we looked around in our horrific poverty….. our family lost miles of farmland…. during the war…. millions of kids grew up horrible hard… to mend our Canada….. Uncle Harold was devastated to learn as many who survived to come home in pieces…. of the horror of the Jews, gays, gypsies, disabled etc…. he never got over it. TODAY I READ ONE OF MY FAVOURITE CANADIAN CARTOONIST AND NATURE LOVER OUR @PatrickLaMontagne LaMontagneArt.com AND HIS BRILLIANT STORY….. #poppyPATRICK LAMONTAGNE BRILLIANT ARTICLE….. quote: History is replete with examples of monuments, artifacts and valuable manuscripts destroyed by conquering armies and short-sighted governments. While one might look at the atrocities committed by the Nazis and think it best to wipe it clean from our memory, there is no better teacher than our past mistakes.One need only look to the rise of the Trump administration in the United States, the misinformation tactics, the artful sowing of division and hatred to see how a culture can become quickly divided and pit against each other. The events of World War II did not happen because of one man’s ambition for conquest and genocide; it happened because the populace not only allowed it, but supported it.We see it on Facebook, Twitter and in the Comments sections of myriad news and fake news sites, polarized opinions turning people against each other. We surround ourselves with those who agree with us and paint everybody who doesn’t as the enemy, defining ourselves by our politics at the expense of our humanity and empathy.My father served 31 years in the Canadian Armed Forces. His three brothers served, as did their father. My mother’s parents both served, as did her three brothers.I grew up as a base brat, spending ten years of my youth in West Germany. I spent five years in the Reserves, and Shonna was in for three, which is where we met.You could say that the military was the family business, though I decided on a different path. It says a lot about Canada that I grew up in a family where we followed orders, and my Dad worked for the government, but my profession involves calling out that government for its current failures.I can draw an unflattering caricature of the Prime Minister, criticize his decisions and leadership, without worrying that thugs in jackboots might break down my door in the middle of the night and take me away for re-education. Or worse.That’s freedom. And we take it for granted.I visited Dachau concentration camp on a school trip. I have looked upon the ironwork sign that reads, “Arbeit Macht Frei.” I have seen the hundreds of boots and shoes preserved behind glass, the photos of real people so emaciated it was a wonder they were still alive. I have seen the ovens.It had a profound effect on me and still gives me chills. It’s supposed to.Words on a page do not carry the same weight as seeing the evidence in person, holding it in your hands, considering its history, allowing it to make you uncomfortable so that it is never allowed to happen again.That’s why I didn’t want the banner destroyed.That’s why we remember.https://www.lamontagneart.com/blog/ #poppy -- source link