Jewish Exiles Are ‘Rest of Story’ on Allied Bombing of Germany

I read with special interest “War Horror for Survivors of Allied Bombing of Germany” (View, Feb. 17) because one of the survivors interviewed is from my hometown, Mannheim.

My family left Mannheim as refugees from Hitler in 1934 when I was 13, and I returned to Mannheim with the U.S. Army in 1945.

Every year the mayor of Mannheim sends a Christmas present to those exiles who have stayed in touch, a calendar, a book, a record, etc. This year’s present was a research document with the names and addresses of the 1972 inhabitants of Mannheim of Jewish connection who were rounded up on Oct. 22-23, 1940, and shipped like cattle to the Nazi concentration camp Gurs on the border of the Pyrenees in southern France.

War is horrible, but we should always be reminded that Hitler and his cohorts, like Saddam Hussein, caused it all. Perhaps the writer of the article might find it useful to interview not only members of the German-American Phoenix Club, but also members of Jewish groups to get the rest of the story.

Dr. Gustave Bording Mathieu, Laguna Beach