Last night Hubby and I watched "Schindler's List". I had only ever seen bits of it. The beginning of the story was set in/near Krakow, Poland where we recently visited. The rest was in a town in Moravia near where we live now. Obviously it was a powerful movie. When in Krakow, we took a tour of its former Jewish section, called Kazimierz. Very interesting and important place to visit. Most of the then Jewish citizens of Krakow were murdered during WW2, by the Nazis. A much smaller number, including ones on Schindler's list, survived. Extreme nationalism and racism is so dangerous. It frightens me that it is on the rise again. Some of it is blatant, a lot a bit more subtle. I bring this up because the victims of such, during WW2, were not strictly Jewish, but also the disabled, mentally unwell, people with different sexual preferences, and others. I see such concerns as relevant here. It's dangerous thinking that similar (to any degree) can't happen again. It often starts slowly.

I didn't write the above to depress anyone. Rather to cite how exclusion and hate can create extreme harm. My husband and I read that as a child, Oskar Schindler's best friend was a Jewish neighbor and that he had fond memories of how the friend's parents welcomed him into their home. I can't help but assume that inclusion played a role in what he later did.

On a much lighter note, whenever our friend comes to CZ from the US he always asks us what we (or I) want him to bring. There are things we can't find here. The first time he brought us Press N Seal wrap. The second time two bottles of cooking sherry. This coming time we asked for waxed paper. None of these are available in CZ and I find it sad living without them. Funny these differences! And yet there are things here that are great, that aren't available (or as inexpensive) in the US. These include game meats, and certain fruit, as examples.