Gregory's Server@bastianallgeier One relative—my great-aunt’s husband—fought as a Nazi and was captured and taken to a Siberian prison camp until after the war. Growing up in the US, although I always heard the strong message from my grandparents and parents that the Nazis were wrong, I also heard my great aunt grumbling about how the Jews caused all the family’s troubles. And one of that great-aunt’s sons—now deceased—grew up and became a neo-Nazi.
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@bastianallgeier She was whole-heartedly pro-Zionist at the end, convinced that ANYTHING showing Palestinian suffering was propaganda. What I learned from my family is people are not static. We have to work at being pro-justice, anti-racist, anti-war. Our ideas can be shaped and changed for the better or worse throughout the course of our whole life. I’m glad I learned what was good when I was young. I am still grieving that grandma couldn’t hold onto that when she was old. |
@bastianallgeier Something really heartbreaking is that in my grandma’s old age, she was swallowed by conservatism. What I remember of her when I was young—her stories that everyone was equal, welcome, and loved. That truth and help could come from anyone, no matter how different we seem. …That person disappeared. Instead she would go on and on about immigrants and racial minority groups abusing this country and its services. (Truly ironic for a first generation immigrant)