Forever Changed finishes as an exhibit by looking at some of the personalities. The Second World War changed the country as a whole, with so much of the population invested in and affected by the war.
Michiko Ishii and her family were forced to relocate from their west coast home as part of the policy against Japanese Canadians during the war, suspicions of divided loyalties. Following the war she would become a historian.
Hubert Brooks was an airman who fell into German hands over Europe, escaped from a POW camp, and spent the rest of the war fighting alongside the Polish Resistance.
He would spend the rest of his life in the Canadian military, shaped by the war.
As part of the Royal Canadian Air Force Flyers team, he would win the gold medal in men's hockey at the 1948 Winter Olympics. This is his jersey.
Regina Rosenbaum survived the Holocaust and Auschwitz. She married Berek Gertner, another survivor of the Holocaust, settled in Canada, and their family became their legacy of survival.
The Campbell brothers, who died a month apart in combat against the Luftwaffe, are honoured by the name of a place: Campbell Bay, Saskatchewan.
Irene Courtenay served through the war as a nurse. She would continue in the field, becoming a professor.
Those people were strong. Who knows what they´d been able to do not "wasting" their powers to a stupid war... And we take peace for granted... I do. And I know others don´t have the luxury...
ReplyDeleteEveryone's life was changed by those years. My own mother was evacuated, leaving her parents in London and cared for by total strangers in the countryside, where, some years later she met my father. "The only good thing Hitler ever did" was her verdict. So without the war there'd have been no me!
ReplyDeleteThese are fortunate people who lived to tell their stories. Many more have no chance to share their stories. War destroys.
ReplyDeleteThis is interesting too!
ReplyDeleteThe war moulded people in different ways, and not all good.
ReplyDeleteHello,
ReplyDeleteI like to read these stories about the courageous men and women who survived the war.
Take care, have a happy new week!
Interesting and impressive stories, William. We owe them all a lot.
ReplyDeleteWhat we did to Japanese Canadians during the war is a shameful part of our history.
ReplyDelete@Iris: fate had a hand.
ReplyDelete@John: life turns out in odd ways.
@Nancy: it does.
@Italiafinlandia: indeed.
@David: that is true.
@Eileen: thank you.
@Jan: definitely.
@Marie: I agree.
...the changes after WWII have been amazing.
ReplyDeleteIt is such a good idea to tell these personal stories.
ReplyDeleteI love the success stories especially the gold medal winner.
ReplyDeletewow I like to read this!Well done !
ReplyDeleteNice that some had a happy ending.
ReplyDeleteAmazing changes after WWII ~ great post and photo ^_^
ReplyDeleteHappy Days to you ,
A ShutterBug Explores,
aka (A Creative Harbor)
These are examples of some very wonderful people and what they did during the war.
ReplyDeleteThe personal stories are interesting to read.
ReplyDelete@Tom: they have.
ReplyDelete@RedPat: I agree.
@Sharon: me too.
@Anita: thanks.
@Janey: it is.
@Carol: thank you.
@Red: very much so.
@Bill: definitely.
Muchas historias, hay detrás, de esos hombres y mujeres.
ReplyDeleteThank you.
DeleteGreat personalities indeed.
ReplyDeleteThey are.
DeleteI always appreciate your historical exhibits William, thank you!
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome.
DeleteI can see how it changed the world but also how it must have changed the people in those different worlds.
ReplyDeleteVery much so.
DeleteInteresting stories from a terrible time.
ReplyDeleteIndeed.
DeleteI particularly appreciated this post and exhibit about the people . It really spoke to me. Today, Pearl Harbor Day, is a good one to be following your footsteps through this entire Museum and I will catch up with the posts I've missed to honor the day. But the lady near the top of this post who was punished just for being the wrong ethnicity (as happened here in the USA too of course as you know) points out one of the saddest things about the war that happened on our own soil.
ReplyDeleteIt was sad. And wrong.
DeleteI'm glad the display tells the stories of people caught up in the war and how it affected their lives afterwards:)
ReplyDeleteThe entire exhibit benefited from that.
DeleteGreat people. It honors Canada that Holocaust survivors are safe there.
ReplyDeleteIndeed.
Delete