Dear Friends,
On this Memorial Day, I’ve re-posted a blog about Linda’s Uncle Buddy.
Uncle Buddy was one of soldiers who liberated one of the sub camps at Buchenwald.
I got a letter from my wife Linda’s Uncle Buddy. For Christmas, Linda’s dad Tony gave his brother Buddy a copy of Third Winter of War: Buchenwald, my book about my dad, and Uncle Buddy wanted to tell me about it.
The letter means a lot to me, and you’ll see why when you read it. Here it is:
Dear John,
I read the poems you wrote. I found them very moving. I’m no whiz kid about understanding every line you wrote but I could feel the sadness, the hurt, and the agony in your poems. I hope when people read these poems they will realize how these people in the camps suffered and how they were tortured. I guess I feel it more because I saw it. It took me 50 years to talk about it. I still think about it, and my nightmares that come and go. The camp we took back in April 4, 1945 was a sub-station to Buchenwald. It was called Ohrdruf. Be well, our love to you and Linda and Lillian.
Uncle Buddy
PS. Don’t ever stop writing.
Dr. John Z. Guzlowski
Professor Emeritus
Eastern Illinois University
http://open.salon.com/blog/john_guzlowski/2009/05/23/a_letter_from_uncle_buddy
Hear Garrison Keillor read my poem
“What My Father Believed”
http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/programs/2007/12/24/#friday
My Blog About My Parents and Their Experiences in Nazi Germany