In May 1943 my father, flying in an Allied bomber during a raid against Nazi Germany was shot down, taken prisoner, and sent to a Luftwaffe POW camp -- where he remained 21 months before being forced-marched to the German heartland in the final months of the war.
Unlike the children imprisoned by Trump, he was an actual and declared enemy of the German state. Nevertheless, while imprisoned in Germany he:
- unlike the children imprisoned by Trump, was provided with a bunk off the floor
- unlike the children imprisoned by Trump, was provided with a blanket
- unlike the children imprisoned by Trump, was provided with soap;
- unlike the children imprisoned by Trump, was provided with access to showers
- unlike the children imprisoned by Trump, was allowed to accept practical gifts of clothing and extra blankets from outside humanitarians and humanitarian agencies (like the International Red Cross)
While life was no picnic at Stalag Luft III (re-captured escapees received a bullet in the head as punishment), it is astonishing that 75 years later we are able to point to several measures where the Nazis did a better job of providing basic care to their enemies than the twenty-first century America provides to children who — unlike my father and his aircrew — have never dropped a bomb on the homeland.