nightbat wrote in message ...
nightbat wrote
Double-A wrote:
nightbat wrote in message ...
nightbat wrote
G=EMC^2 Glazier wrote:
Hi Benoit Nice now I'm not flamed for showing the fraudulent,and
corrupt NASA. I watched the Saturn V take off in Florida(flew in) I
lived in Huntington Beach Ca in 1969. I could not miss it for anything.
My heart was broken when it was scraped. we can't let politicians take
over NASA ever again. NASA has to be given back the right stuff.
Brains,honesty,and a high regard for life of others.That means get rid
of the politicians. Bert
nightbat
Noble thoughts Bert, but good scientist's don't run countries,
politicians do. And yes when rocket man Dr. Wernher von Braun and some
of his close original German team of scientist's left the US space
program it was an indication of the change of future choice of transport
vehicle, space station design , and agenda at Nasa. Not all left however
and many capable scientist's and trained tech's remained to accomplish
many great successful and ongoing space missions.
See link for pic of Dr. von Braun with just passed great astronaut
Gordon Cooper.
http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/academy.../SpaceAge.html
ponder on,
the nightbat
Double-A
It is interesting that Wernher von Braun came from a rather primitive
farming area that you might least expect would produce such a great
man of science. I take a special interest since it is the same area
where some of my own ancestors lived in the 19th century.
nightbat
Then that explains it, the particular Polish farm area folks
must have eaten some home made moon light made cheese and got a lot of
you fellows interested in outer space. From humble beginnings comes
great things.
Double-A
But then von Braun came from a noble family. His Prussian title was
Freiherr, which roughly translates to Baron. He was born in the town
of Wirsitz (now Wyrzysk) in Kreis (county) Wirsitz (now Wyrzysk) in
the region of Posen (now Poznan). At the time of his birth, it was
part of Germany, but now it's part of Poland.
nightbat
From noble family comes noble off spring sometimes. Poland has
been invaded so many times, everybody apparently wants a piece of her.
Double-A
In the 19th and early 20th centuries the region of Posen had a mixed
population of German Lutherans, Polish Catholics, and also Jews.
These people seemed to get along quite well with each other up until
the Nazi era. After WWII, the entire German population was expelled.
nightbat
Hmmmmm, Double-A, I thought it was the other way around, that
nearly everybody was expelled in Eastern Europe during the WW2 Nazi rein
except those considered Nationalized Germans. It took us Yanks, Brits,
and those allied Russians to expel the SS grauts. My fathers long family
generation clock making Jewish family emigrated from Germany before the
1st World War, and married my Catholic Mother in the new world. The
original Germane Rhineland was considered much larger then it was during
the war and Poland was retaken by the Germans as part of their National
repatriation policy. But I know Polish pride runs deep, some of their
women are the most stunning, no wonder they keep getting invaded.
Actually my ancestors were part of the German speaking population who
were living in Posen in the 1800's when it was part of greater
Prussia. The region was taken away from Poland by the Prussians in
about 1792, and many Germans settled there. There may have been some
temporary reshuffling during the Napoleonic wars, but after that
Prussia/Germany held Posen until 1918. In fact it was Napoleon's
utter defeat of the Prussian army that may have made them so
hell-bent-for-leather from the time when they began rebuilding in
1814. This is why the date 1814 appears on the German Iron Cross
medal.
Prussia engaged in a series of wars aimed at German unification under
Prussian leadership. My own great grandfather fought in the
Austro-Prussian War, which was meant to settle the question of German
leadership between Prussia and Austria. The Austrian Emperor was
forced to renounce the title of Holy Roman Emperor. Following this,
my great grandfather decided it was time to get out while the getting
was good, and moved to America before the Franco-Prussian war broke
out. Nevertheless, he was almost drafted into the American Civil War.
With their defeat of France in the Franco-Prussian War in 1870,
Prussia was able to hang on to the coalition they had formed for the
war, which included the southern German states such as Bavaria, by
declaring a new German Empire with the first Kaiser (King of Prussia)
at its helm.
Everything was peaceful for Posen until the German WWI defeat in 1918,
when they were ceded to Poland. Even so, German-speaking people were
allowed to remain and lived in harmony with their Polish-speaking
neighbors.
During WWII, Posen was as you said, "repatriated" by Germany. I'm
sure that the Germans under Nazi leadership did a lot of expelling of
people in Easterm Europe as you say. We are well versed in their
atrocities. They certainly cleared out and killed the Jewish
population. And they saw the Slavic population as a good source for
cheap slave labor. But after WWII, it was the German-speaking people
who had to leave Posen. Actually their evacuation was first ordered
by the German government itself, as the Soviet army began invading.
Any German dumb enough to stay stood a good chance of being killed by
the Russians as they took their vengeance. So there probably weren't
too many Germans left to expel when the Allies ordered them to leave,
although many who had evacuated might have returned if they had been
allowed to. The Allies wanted to hand Posen back to Poland free and
clear.
While the Germans collectively deserved being forced out, after all
the trouble they had caused, it's a bit sad for me that if I were to
go back to the old hometown, I would find no relatives there today.
But that's the way empires crumble. Although Wernher von Braun's
relatives are gone too, the town of Wyrzysk still takes pride in his
being born there as part of their history.
Double-A
The town today has a website:
http://www.wyrzysk.pl/
No need to polish up on your Polish, the site has an English version.
Click on "History" to see von Braun's picture.
Double-A
nightbat
That posted link doesn't work, says site not found.
It still works for me. I am using Microsoft's Internet Explorer as my
browser. Sometimes sites won't work depending on your browser.
However, my
understanding of Poland is beautiful landscape, rich farmland, no wonder
everybody seems to want it. The ideal climate, mixed cultures, stunning
vistas, beautiful woman, friendly folks, imaginative invention and
resiliency despite its troubled past. You come from very proud heritage
Double-A, and valuable cultural history, especially if the Nazi's wanted
it so bad. Thanks for the Dr. Von Braun historic family birth place
background info even though your posted link is not working.
the nightbat
Even though my ancestry is German rather than Polish, I have great
respect for the Polish people. After all, it was the country of
Copernicus.
Double-A