No one has been able to
calculate the number of wounded, certainly amounting to
several millions, whose lives were permanently scarred
as a result of the war. Physical scars, from the
severest disability to disfiguring wounds, and mental
scars, accompanied these millions for the rest of their
lives. Many died as a direct result of them. Others
lived in pain, discomfort, fear or remorse...The
greatest unfinished business of the Second World War is
human pain. Martin Gilbert, The Second World War: A complete history, 1989, revised 1991. |
On June 5, 2009, as part of
the observances of the
65th anniversary of D-Day, President Obama visited
the concentration camp at Buchenwald,
Germany. His remarks about his
great-uncle may also describe how Felix was effected
by what he witnessed at Dachau: I've known about this place since I was a
boy, hearing stories about my great uncle, who was a
very young man serving in World War II. He was
part of the 89th Infantry Division, the first
Americans to reach a concentration camp. They
liberated Ohrdruf, one of Buchenwald's sub-camps.
And I told this story, he returned from his service in a state of shock saying little and isolating himself for months on end from family and friends, alone with the painful memories that would not leave his head. And as we see -- as we saw some of the images here, it's understandable that someone who witnessed what had taken place here would be in a state of shock. |
R. Richard
Kingsbury in his
autobiography, The
Eighteen-Year-Old
Replacement: Facing Combat in Patton's Third Army describes suffering cold
injuries, possibly trench foot. After the war, the VA paid
him two 10% disability for the permanent damage to his
legs and feet. (Page xiii.) At a minimum, that is what I believe Felix also deserved if not more as his hands were also permanently damaged. |
INDEX: Cizewski,
Lovetere, Musbach, & Robinson Family History All material not in the public domain © 2006 - 2014 Leonard H. Cizewski Last Updated: December 1, 2014 Posted: Sometime prior to July 29, 2009 Last Reviewed: |
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