Yesterday, I told Boris that looking at the exceptional heroism of the Ukrainian troops, I can’t stop thinking that the Soviet Army was victorious during WWII only because there were Ukrainians in it. Boris took it more seriously than I thought. He said: not just because Ukrainians served in the Soviet Army but because it was an (un)written rule that a company petty officer should have been Ukrainian. And those were the people who were in charge of discipline and things happening the way they should. I never knew about that, but I trust him :).
I often think about Frau Traudel these days. Boris says we can’t compare ourselves with her because she was “inside” the situation, and when she secretly delivered the BBC News to the Russian POW, she risked, if not her life, then her freedom for sure. It’s easy for us to “wish Germany to be defeated” as she used to say. How much I would love to talk to her now!
Hettie's Reflections 