Post #1102108
2026-04-12 15:51 UTC
Yesterday I was helping my neighbor with her garden and a man walked by, nodding to us.
She told me she knew him. She was born in Amsterdam and seems to know pretty much everyone here and I feel extremely lucky to have her as a neighbor. She explained that he is Jona Oberski and he wrote a very famous book about his time in a nazi concentration camp as a child. It is called Kinderjaren.
I of course had to buy the English translation. I have barely started it. I am going to have a lot of feelings reading this. One of them is gratitude for living in a place that has such clear and present memories about what it is like to be occupied by nazis.
Replies (4)
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@sfoskett@techfieldday.net 2026-04-12 16:35
@ginabythebay@hachyderm.io I love that he overcame that and now can live in a beautiful city and nod to friendly neighbors. There’s hope.
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@rhempel@cosocial.ca 2026-04-12 16:49
@ginabythebay@hachyderm.io This is a wonderful reminder that we probably have no idea of the life experience of the people that live within a stone's throw of ourselves. Be curious, be kind, be patient ...
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@donhawkins@mastodon.social 2026-04-12 21:09
@ginabythebay@hachyderm.io @bmacDonald94@hostux.social Just ask a Palestinian.
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@EricLawton@kolektiva.social 2026-04-13 03:26
@ginabythebay@hachyderm.io I lived in Amsterdam for four months while working in Uithoorn, in the 1990s. Such a friendly place. Several friends I made there visited my home in Canada, but I've lost touch since. 😥