Firstly your last sentence says so well how photography is for me as well, MY father was also a WW2 vet and was part of J Force and saw things he would never talk about, but I know it was in his mind at times, and now after some of my experiences, I can understand why he choose not to talk about it with family, some things you can only really discuss with people who have had similar experiences
I think these days even more than ever before your statement
People judge things they don't understand or don't bother to learn about
I totally agree with it is something we see so much of these days sadly
My grampa either never wanted to talk about it, it really affected him especially seeing the camps, he was young too. He talked about it a little bit during a school assignment I had but I'm sure he kept the worst for himself. I don't blame them, you can't really un-know this stuff and it's hard for any human being to handle. Now that I have seen pictures, it must have been overwhelming.
I am sure it must have been so overwhelming and know fir certain some things one can never forget i do have one period of work where I saw things that I will never forget as much as I would like it’s not like the memories are always there but they just flash back so vivid from random triggers.
My wife says she knows when I have them as my whole expression changes and I remember thinking that with my dad.
But thinking more positive one advantage of having seen bad it makes one really appreciate the good and how fortunate one is
Have a great day and weekend