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Even
though the war ended in 1945, many Allied soldiers had to stay in Europe
to make sure that the German Army could not reassemble itself and start
fighting again. It took many months to sort things out, and to find
the many Allied prisoners of war who had been held captive in both Germany
and Japan. It was not until 1946 that most soldiers finally began
coming home and children could see their fathers (and sometimes mothers
too!) after having been away from them for five years or more.
For
German children, some of them did not see their fathers return from prison
camps in Russia until well into the 1950's.
However,
we remember World War Two for all those who never came home.
On both sides. The many soldiers and civilians who lost their lives
and died in one of the worst periods of modern history which we know.
For
many years after the war, people across Europe and throughout the world
continued to hate the German people for what had happened, but today we
recognise that not all Germans in World War Two were evil and that it was
only a few of them who committed acts of murder and torture against
innocent people. |
