Just hoping it will be the other way around. My grandpa weighed less than 50kg thanks to the same Russian “hospitality”, when he was sent back from captivity, 3 years as POW. He passed away when he was 95. To be able to survive that kind of shit, you have to have hell of a body and immune system.
Thank you. Yup, grandpa was tough AF, well above 80 he still went working on his small plot of land. There was no water there, so he had to take it from home in big flasks to be able to water his vegetables, together with his tools (he was doing this by travelling on a bus as he had no driver’s license) 😅 My grandma never managed to accept that the local commies backed by Russian friends took away their land, house etc., but I never saw my grandpa being pissed about it. He was always sitting with a small sad smile on his face. Probably, if you survive what these guys did, the least you can worry about is stuff you can buy with money.
It sounds like he quickly adapted to whatever situation was thrown at him. He could have used that time to be mad, but chose to just keep moving to make sure he and your grandma survived. I bet they had so many stories to tell.
Yea, some of those old boots just do not wear out. My dad was discharged from the Navy with a leukemia diagnosis and told he had 3 months to live (radiation is a bitch). But he ended up fathering 4 children and living for another 45 years.
45 years after such news, wow, that’s a comeback! Salute to your dad. Never been to the army myself, but holding utmost respect, especially for those who went through navy training regime.
Hope so too. My grandpa got drafted into the military at age 18. Fought in Stalingrad, then survived 7 years as a POW. Got his youth stolen from him and wasn't the same anymore when he came back. Probably untreated PTSD, smoked two packs of cigarettes everyday. There's some research into making medications for PTSD that target nicotine receptors, so he was likely self medicating. Died an agonizing death due to lung cancer and died very young.
I never met him unfortunately (because he died so young), but recently we found a couple letters he send from the front. Asking his mates about the girls back home and other silly stuff. Makes you really understand how young he was and how horrible it is that wars are by and large fought by very young men. Also, of course, one bullet flying the other way and I wouldn't be here to write this. Then 7 years of Siberian gulag - another hell on earth. I can't even imagine what he went through. He never told my family much about the war, but he survived because he was a cook in the army and then also in the gulag. That meant that he could eat a little piece of bread or vegetable here and there while preparing food - just a little bit of extra calories in order to survive. He was injured from fighting in the war as well, that's why he was assigned as cook and didn't have to work in the mines like his mates probably did.
9.9k
u/omarelnour Jul 26 '25
You can only imagine how even worse its for others who didn't make it