[One of my goals is to make sure that all four of us will be okay with phones when we get there. If we're truly stuck, we do have a pair of friends living in Osaka who can help us out re: getting cheap phones, so I'm holding onto that. I can speak a very little bit of Japanese (Nihongo wakimasen, Eigo desu?) and can read/write a little bit of romanji but unfortunately nothing in the katakana/hiragana. We're four smart people - I think we'll be able to manage. Matt (our friend over there) joked and said if we ever get stuck, go find a high schooler because they're learning English or a businessman XD) The onsen is gorgeous and good with foreigners so I'm really excited and the Eko-in is a working temple... guh I am stoked.]
From the expression change on Charles' face, it was fairly obvious he immediately knew what Aurus was speaking of. His lips briefly thinned as he tried to think of how to explain something so very, very complicated. "...there was a man... one very charasmatic man who brought together his people under the belief that they were superior and anyone who didn't look like them were lesser people. He took a particular hatred to some specific groups of people - the one the children most likely remember from their lessons are the Jewish. These are a people who come from a particular place in the world or follow a religion of the same name. They were-"
In his head, he saw the numbers branded into Erik's skin, and he felt a pang as if he was doing a disgrace to this explanation. "Millions of people were killed because they were considered 'lesser' people. Shot, starved, illness, gassed by chemicals, and so many more terrible deaths. Some were marked by tattoos or symbols they had to wear. It became a war that involved most of the world in some way or another - some on the side of those who wished to kill, the Nazis, some on the side of trying to stop them. It was an ugly, terrible war that we could speak weeks going over explaining all of the awful details but... sometimes, it's all too easy to see that we're being targeted specifically for who we are and it sounds all too familiar to those who know the relatively recently history of the world."
no subject
From the expression change on Charles' face, it was fairly obvious he immediately knew what Aurus was speaking of. His lips briefly thinned as he tried to think of how to explain something so very, very complicated. "...there was a man... one very charasmatic man who brought together his people under the belief that they were superior and anyone who didn't look like them were lesser people. He took a particular hatred to some specific groups of people - the one the children most likely remember from their lessons are the Jewish. These are a people who come from a particular place in the world or follow a religion of the same name. They were-"
In his head, he saw the numbers branded into Erik's skin, and he felt a pang as if he was doing a disgrace to this explanation. "Millions of people were killed because they were considered 'lesser' people. Shot, starved, illness, gassed by chemicals, and so many more terrible deaths. Some were marked by tattoos or symbols they had to wear. It became a war that involved most of the world in some way or another - some on the side of those who wished to kill, the Nazis, some on the side of trying to stop them. It was an ugly, terrible war that we could speak weeks going over explaining all of the awful details but... sometimes, it's all too easy to see that we're being targeted specifically for who we are and it sounds all too familiar to those who know the relatively recently history of the world."