@310843B - Some years ago I was approached by such a German to write his biography from tapes - all in German, in a specific dialect - and I couldn't get past the first 30 pages, because it was all about the end of WWII, and fleeing civilians, the encroaching Russians, the rape of his sister by Russian soldiers, the hanging of those same (very young) Russian soldiers by their commandant - publicly, from a tree out the front of the encampment.
I had heard enough in my childhood, have seen how mean people can be - I returned it all - on top if it he had never recovered himself, still in that aggressive mood - even when he entered my house he seemed to bring that with him. So I was glad to see him out of my life.
People are very different in the way they deal with trauma, some get over it, some hang onto it for life, almost as if it was a justification for their existence.
You should not have to listen to such tales, they have nothing to do with you - and they impact you in the end.
I have met a number of men who just saw/experienced the end of WWII either as soldiers, or fleeing civilian; one particular one, who is now dead, was a lovely chap, helpful, well integrated - as a youth, when fleeing from Yugoslavia, he had pinched a German soldier's uniform, wore it, had a rifle and he was going to fight Hitler's war - rear-action style - from the train.
An older man, ex-soldier, approached him, took the gun away and told him not to be stupid. He obeyed him, eventually got to Austria, later migrated with an Austrian building firm to Australia (building pre-fab homes here in Perth) became a fantastic Australian citizen, was active in many clubs, volunteered for various rescue organisations, even took over his Australian father-in-laws job as a keeper of the memorial stuff for Ancaz Day - marched on Anzac Days - and had a huge sense of humour - like his favourite story was, going into video stores and being asked what he was looking for, he'd say "I am looking for a video where Hitler won the War!" and he'd enjoy the looks, the shock, the laughter - I still miss this lovely guy.
Take care and smile as often as you can
Taurisk
