[ALEXEI]

For those who were/are moved by the Oils' Last of the Diggers and this whole
idea of eras ending with the passing of the last witness, it may be an
interesting thing to learn that the news in at least two countries--Austria
and Belarus--is dwarfed with the return to Austria of Franz Steg, an Austrian
who was drafted in the German army and fought in the Soviet Union before he
was captured by guerillas in 1943.  Having spent several years in POW camps,
Steg married a Belarusian girl in 1947 and was released to live in Belarus for
the next 60 (!) years.  His life story, details of which I'll spare, is one
full of separations, comebacks, tragedy, happy discoveries, rejections by his
homeland (in 1968, for instance, during his first trip to Austria, he was
given to understand that his country does not want him)... very touching.  And
despite the NMOC tag, Last of the Diggers was the first thing to come to my
mind when I read the story this morning.

Cheers, all

Alexei