Thursday, December 3, 2009

The Trains Were Frigging Scared, For Christ!

The horrors/evils of the Japanese and Nazi regimes during WW2 are obviously legendary. They are also extremely well documented. What isn't as well known, unfortunately, is just how ruthless and barbaric the third member of that dreaded axis, Italy, was.......................................................................................For instance, a lot of people are unaware that Italy also had concentration camps; at Rab and Gonars. These camps included not just political dissidents, but many minority groups (yes, the Jews in fact were kept there) as well. And, yes, when you couple that with the fact that Mussolini's fascist army routinely used chemical weapons (mustard gas being the dictator's favorite) and routinely tortured its victims, the simpatico obviously becomes apparent.........................................................................................How did Italy treat American prisoners of war? I hope you don't mind here, but I really think I'd like to answer that one with an anecdote. My best friend's father was a bombardier during WW2. He frequently participated in bombing missions over Italy. And every time they flew there, the officers would give each and every airman on the plane a gun with one bullet in it. It was highly recommended that, if in fact the plane did go down, they should use this particular gun and kill themselves. This, in that, if the frigging fascists captured them, they would torture/maim them, make them suffer, etc.. The officers evidently felt that it would be far less traumatic to do "it" yourself. So, what do you think, folks? Is that little answer succinct enough for you?

No comments: