Orville and I went to the bookstore after our trip to the laundry mat today (don’t ask!) and the wonderful lady there recommended a book called Snow Treasure about some children who snuck the treasury of Norway out from under the noses of the Nazi on sleds.
We got back to Grandma’s and were telling her about the book, when Juss looked up from where he helping to clean up the magician’s kit he’d been practicing with and gasped in utter astonishment:
“You mean Nazi’s are real!!!!”
“Were real,” I said.
Only took him a moment to recover, after which he snickered, “You mean they were real before they were dead!”
I understand Juss’ confusion.
I well believe that after his father’s bombastic exclamations, Juss was thoroughly convinced that they belonged in the realm of Jack’s giant. Sometimes good storytelling can have unexpected effects.
You can tell Juss (and whoever else is interested) that when Mr. Johnson*’s mother was a little girl, the Nazis took over her city (Prague). The family had to escape by night, being smuggled over the border a la the von Trappe family.
The father was working against the Nazis (and later the Communists) so he had to be taken to escape separately. The Allies kept him in a large fort, a safe house with other political refugees. No windows so that Communist spies would not figure out who was in there. He eventually got to America went on to become a professor at SUNY-Binghamton. After the Berlin Wall went down and the Czech Republic was free, his remains were sent back to Prague where they was buried in a cemetery for Czech heroes with quite a lot of ceremony.
Here he is:
http://www.radio.cz/en/article/88318
*Sigh. If John wants us to be Mr. and Mrs. Johnson for the sake of formality, I suppose we shall.
Thank you, Mrs. Johnson. I’ll tell him! ;-) (Though considering that Juss has considered changing his name to Steve Johnson, I think maybe he should be allowed to call him Steve. ;-)
Naturally, he’d be fine with that. Whenever John calls me Mrs. Johnson, I keep thinking of the widow Mrs. Johnson (lately married to “Flyboy” Johnson) of the Banzai Institute.
This is worth the proverbial gander:
http://www.banzai-institute.com/0404mrsj.html
… after which he snickered, “You mean they were real before they were dead!”
Thanks to the Greatest Generation, to which my father belonged :)
They’re not dead yet, I’m afraid.
Between the neo-nazi rallies and the not-so-faded memories of the enthusiastic Hitler youth, there remains a spark.
A very tiny spark, in the West.
A much bigger fire, in the Muslim world. Which is ironic, because the only Muslims the Nazis would have treated at all well as occupiers would have been those of Iran and Pakistan.
Mine as well!
I understand Juss’ confusion.
I well believe that after his father’s bombastic exclamations, Juss was thoroughly convinced that they belonged in the realm of Jack’s giant. Sometimes good storytelling can have unexpected effects.
You can tell Juss (and whoever else is interested) that when Mr. Johnson*’s mother was a little girl, the Nazis took over her city (Prague). The family had to escape by night, being smuggled over the border a la the von Trappe family.
The father was working against the Nazis (and later the Communists) so he had to be taken to escape separately. The Allies kept him in a large fort, a safe house with other political refugees. No windows so that Communist spies would not figure out who was in there. He eventually got to America went on to become a professor at SUNY-Binghamton. After the Berlin Wall went down and the Czech Republic was free, his remains were sent back to Prague where they was buried in a cemetery for Czech heroes with quite a lot of ceremony.
Here he is:
http://www.radio.cz/en/article/88318
*Sigh. If John wants us to be Mr. and Mrs. Johnson for the sake of formality, I suppose we shall.
… after which he snickered, “You mean they were real before they were dead!”
Thanks to the Greatest Generation, to which my father belonged :)
They’re not dead yet, I’m afraid.
Between the neo-nazi rallies and the not-so-faded memories of the enthusiastic Hitler youth, there remains a spark.
A very tiny spark, in the West.
A much bigger fire, in the Muslim world. Which is ironic, because the only Muslims the Nazis would have treated at all well as occupiers would have been those of Iran and Pakistan.
Thank you, Mrs. Johnson. I’ll tell him! ;-) (Though considering that Juss has considered changing his name to Steve Johnson, I think maybe he should be allowed to call him Steve. ;-)
Mine as well!
Naturally, he’d be fine with that. Whenever John calls me Mrs. Johnson, I keep thinking of the widow Mrs. Johnson (lately married to “Flyboy” Johnson) of the Banzai Institute.
This is worth the proverbial gander:
http://www.banzai-institute.com/0404mrsj.html
I really liked that book as a kid.
So did John, I just found out.
I really liked that book as a kid.
So did John, I just found out.