MONDAY MUSINGS: A DIFFERENT TIME, BUT IS IT?

Have you ever heard about the historical significance of Lake Windermere in England ?

We here in the End of the Rainbow Valley learned about it this past Sunday on a PBS special. After WWII (the Liberation) over 700 Holocaust survivors were sent to Lake Windermere to a former industrial plant where volunteer therapists were awaiting to help in their transition and recuperation.

Philanthropist Sir Moses Montefiore is responsible for spearheading this endeavor. The therapists had a big job of first gaining the survivors's trust. But what differentiates these survivors is that they are all children... 

This true story deals with the first 300 traumatized jewish children of  Czech, Polish and German origins.  Amongst the teenaged youth were also a small group of preschoolers with an inseparable bond...

These children had no clue as to the demise of their family members since they had been separated at the beginning of WWII during roundups, sometimes at the train stations before being sent to the different 'work' camps/once they arrived.  

Their days of readjustment at Lake Windemere were filled with art therapy, English lessons, sports, and psychotherapy. One's heartstrings can't help but be tugged on as one witnesses the damage done by the camps. Night terrors are just one of their plagues... During their summer stay at Lake Windermere the Red Cross would also deliver the news of their families. 

I couldn't help but think how horrific the German soldiers were enforcing the German work camp rules. And then, my mind flips to the separation of the refugee children from their parents at our border and their horrible treatment. Unlike the German's systematic bookkeeping, the U.S. has not kept track of the whereabouts of these refugee families and reuniting them has become a nightmare . All these conditions will traumatize these children for the rest of their days too.

 Why does history have to repeat itself? Can we not learn from the err of our ways?

PBS's Windermere Children will have repeat airings and also there is a documentary with the 90+ year old survivors sharing their memories. Both are worth your time...