Brzeg nad Odra Reflection

     After William had settled in Stanislawow with steady income and good friends around them they, for a reason not explained in the memoir decided to leave. They moved to a city in Poland called Brzeg nad Odra. It was very hard for them living there since they were surrounded by many anti-Semites and heard of Jews in a neighbouring city being harassed an killed because of their ethnicity. This struck enough fear in Charlotte and William for them to want to leave Poland and flee to North America where they are confident they will be free of prejudice. Unfortunately their planned escape was flawed and made William and his associated end up in a very harsh jail. However, they were able to barter with a guard so that he would help free them and once they were out went back to their families having failed their mission. Charlotte was very glad to see William as she feared him dead. But they still were not dissuaded and continued to try and escape to Western Society.

     It's interesting to see the amount of under-cover Jews that they encountered along their journey, some pretended to be Poles, Ukranian, Soviets or even German. It is sad to see people have to hide who they are, their heritage, their identity in order to be treated with as much respect and decency as anyone else.

     It greatly saddened me to see how the Soviets mistreated the German civilians that were on the same train as William on his journey.  This was undeserved by the Germans as they themselves were not the Nazis and therefore were not the perpetrators of the terrible crimes against the Jews and humanity. It is important that we as humans do not generalize and stereotype but rather encounter each new person with a fresh slate  rather than prejudice, otherwise we make ourselves just like the Nazis whose sin was regarding certain groups of people as worth less than others, not because of their actions but simply because of their race. We need to ensure that we value lives of all people and do not condone ignorant and prejudice behaviour against anybody.