What's on Your Mind

[Bookworm]

I've been doing research on how my ancestors lived when we were exiles living in Shanghai. My grandfather sadly passed away before I could ask him any questions on what it was like, and most of my family members said he was mostly haunted by the invasion. Very few Jews and Russians are alive today who remembered, but some have come forward with their stories, and some Chinese survivors as well. The story of Jews and Russians (and Russian Jews) living in China, and the terrible atrocity that the Chinese people faced in that time period, really helps me have a better prospective on life, and teaches lessons on suffering, survival, and tolerance.

I agree, it's a sobering experience sometimes when we look at what we are capable of doing to each other as a species.

It's a shame you never got the chance to speak with your grandfather. Grandparents are a great resource of information and family history. I used to sit and listen to my grandmother's stories about the war too, and all the extended family, it used to fascinate me.
She was always a little reticent on discussing my grandfather though, which proved a stumbling block years later when I started researching my family tree. He died when I was still quite young so I never had a chance to talk to him much, and nobody really knew much about his family roots at all.