Learning from history?

Dear Buz:

Thank you for your accurate summary of German history and the success of Adolf Hitler (Letters, Sept. 9).

I want to add a couple things that were different then but cannot be an excuse nowadays. There was no TV or computer, only radio and newspapers, which were both controlled by Hitler. Not many cars either, to drive to other places. My mother grew up not far from Auschwitz and did not know that it existed. My father was sent to Russia to fight at age 18. Once Hitler was in complete control, nobody could be against him without facing the consequences.

I grew up in the aftermath of the war, walking through rubble of destroyed homes, passing bunkers and seeing the craters in the forest of bombs that missed the steel factory. We had not much food to eat, apples and potatoes lasted in the cellar for months. Meat was one of our rabbits that we had fed with leftovers, and there was one on the dinner table each month.

Does the future American generation want to go through this, just because they did not learn from history?

We survived, and my generation swore never to let this happen again, which we did not.

We have to look at ourselves as international people not as nations, we have to feel equal with all races and stop fighting each other. We also have to question the authorities and not assume that they always want what is good for us.

There is so much to do on this planet to keep it the way it is and to make things good for everyone. Let’s not have history repeat itself. Only accept leaders who are truly working toward this.

Rosi Jansen

La Conner