Has a Nazi that became an eye doctor in the US and stayed on the right side of US law proven his worth?
Or is he always worthless, having been a Nazi?
While I was attending the AADA, which was in Pasadena at the time, I lived in an old motel, it was the Astro Motel on Colorado Blvd, it was a real cheap dive then, and the place was full of prostitutes and drug dealers, etc, and in the three months that I lived at that motel four people died, suicides and over-doses.
There was this old German guy who was my neighbor at the motel. He drank cognac everyday and he had sex with hookers, and he just gave up on life. He was a general contractor in the construction industry, so he could have been wealthy, he did not need to live at that cheap motel, but he just gave up on life.
So, I used to play chess with him, and drink cognac, he was not a drug addict or anything, and for an old drunk he was very polite and gentlemanly. And over time we got to know each other. I found out that he was from Germany, and that he had been there when Hitler was in power, and he felt guilty and ashamed at what Hitler did, and he hated himself for being German at the time of Hitler. But, here was the kicker, he was just a powerless little kid. He was carrying around all of this guilt, and he was just a little child. I told him, you were just a little kid, you need to let that stuff go, it was not your fault, stop carrying that guilt around with you. I got through to him, and he began the process of forgiving himself.
The last time I saw him, he had cut back on the drinking, and he met a woman from Colombia, and she wanted to get married and have children, and so he was going to marry her and buy a home and start a family.
Life is not always pretty, but it was nice to see him redeemed and grateful to be alive, he went from being very sad to being happy.
Salute,
Tony V.
Poll
5 (45.5%)