hoi.polloi » February 4th, 2017, 12:23 am wrote:
Seneca, thanks for sharing the anecdotes and I hope you are emotionally doing well.
Seneca » February 3rd, 2017, 1:03 pm wrote:This morning my grandfather passed away peacefully. I would like to share some of the stories he told me. He was rather quiet but liked to talk about his past. For example about how as a young boy living on a farm during WW2 they managed to hide their cow (cows?) from the German occupier. When he turned 18 he had to go into hiding to avoid being drafted by the Germans. (forced labor in German factories). What he liked to talk about most was a short period after the war ended. For some reason we was selected by the Belgian government to work as an interpreter. He was sent to help the English occupying forces in Germany. Even though he hadn't finished high school. He didn't speak a word English. Not more than a few words German. He found it quite funny that they hired him. I don't know exactly how he managed to communicate with the English officers. Probably by interpreting their body language. If they asked "do you understand?" he always said yes.
For him it was a time of affluence despite the poverty in Germany. In addition to his pay he would get cigarettes and coffee which he could sell on the black market.
He was a bit embarrassed that he didn't get a "proper" education. But he also told me it is not a bad thing if people think you are stupid. If they underestimate you, you can use it to your advantage. Which he probably did with his boss. He told many stories about how, as a worker at his factory he would know much more of the machines than the engineers.
hoi.polloi » February 2nd, 2017, 4:16 pm wrote:There's nothing wrong with leaving after even a single good post, as far as I'm concerned. You gave us a wealth!
By the way, ICfreely, would you be interested in doing the next Clues Chronicle with K and me?
hoi.polloi » February 10th, 2017, 3:19 am wrote:Thank you for the donations! We are now paid up until August! Thank you all for appreciating/defending our little web space.
simonshack » February 10th, 2017, 9:45 am wrote:hoi.polloi » February 10th, 2017, 3:19 am wrote:Thank you for the donations! We are now paid up until August! Thank you all for appreciating/defending our little web space.
Yes, warm thanks to all supporters of our sites - your help is very much appreciated. Hoi, I've received a few more contributions in the last few days - so our various hosting costs should be covered for the whole year.
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