Historical consequences...

When I was a young boy, my father signed me up for the "book of the month" club.  I wanted to learn about military matters, notably WWII.  The first two volumes I received were part 1 and 2 of Air War.  Thus began a never ending fascination with politics, ideology, leadership, beliefs, power, and consequences.

This trip we are on was to help crystallize some of the perceptions I held about the impact of German aggression in the 20th century.  It should also help me understand how people react to divergent beliefs, political and religious.  Most of this interest began with conversations with my grandparents while I lived  in their home in the late 1960's.  They understood the impact from afar, even as they lived in fear of the potential spread to nazism and communism.

Of significance has also been the understanding of racism  in the US through the civil rights era, and how a multicultural US is shaping itself.  Even in a free country like the US, " freedom" has evolved throughout our history.

There is no clear conclusion of the political and social ramifications of the events that led up to both world wars.  What is clear, is that the repression of people  is not new, and it has destroyed and eradicated  cultures in antiquity, and not so distant past.  Today, people are as socially diverse as their political lords allow them to be.  They are also not disconnected from one another, and therefore understand that they can either  change their reality by fleeing or fighting .

The desire to be free is stronger than any repressive ideological, political or religious belief.  The Jews remain, the communists and the nazis are dust, monarchies are now ceremonial, and a child can grow up to impact their world in a positive way, with little need to destroy it in the process.