World War II refugee Whitman copes with lifetime of haunting questions

RIGA – Achtung! Achtung! These words haunt Riga Township resident Ferenz “Fritz” Whitman.
The words and images of bright lights and fences sometimes come to him in dreams. As do the faceless ideas of his parents that he has no recollection of ever knowing.
“Why did they leave me behind?” he has often asked himself over the past 70 years of his life. While many think of soldiers as casualties of war. Whitman himself was perhaps himself a casualty of war in the fact that he lost his identity as a result of the war to end all wars.
Whitman, was found 70 years ago in September of 1945 by American soldiers at a train station in Marienbad, Czechoslovakia.
For Melissa Burnor’s complete story, please see the Nov. 25, 2015, edition of The Advance

World War II orphan Ferenz "Fritz" Whitman of Riga displays the flag he received when he became a U.S. citizen.
World War II orphan Ferenz “Fritz” Whitman of Riga displays the flag he received when he became a U.S. citizen.
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