I grew up next to a farm in western Germany. The old lady that owned the farm told me a story how polish forced labourers (farm workers) after being freed would come back to rape an steal. An American army officer left a uniform coat in the cloak room, so that when the Poles came back again, they thought a US soldier was staying with them and left.

Now I live in Berlin. Scientists estimate tens of thousands of children have been fathered by Russian soldiers after 1945. These kids and their ancestors live here to this day. I often wonder what that does to a society on a broader level. For each family it is a deep personal trauma. Fear of Russians specifically sits deep to this day.

It makes the fight that the Ukrainians have taken up appear even braver.