I swim at a local pool during the week and have come to recognize the regulars. We give each other space...swimming is not a talkative sport. But the other day, out in the parking lot, I couldn't help but comment to an older man, on the beautiful weather we've been having. When he replied, I noticed a slight accent and asked, "Sprechen sie deutsch?" He did!
Long story short, he explained how he was a German from Poland and showed me scars from bayonet wounds. It was February, 1945. The Soviet Army had started their push towards Berlin and this man was twelve years old. Not only that...this local swimmer came over on the same ship, the Beaverbrae, that my parents came over on—and in the same year! "The rat-ship" he called it, with a chuckle.
I'm heading back to the pool today. Swimming....another way to do explore history!
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