I wish to dedicate these thoughts to the memory of my cousin, Dr. Achile Sarry (1919 - 1994), a true patriot and intellectual of high moral integrity. During World War II, he endured terrible ordeals while being held captive for six years in several extermination camps in the Soviet Union. When Achile Sarry returned home to Romania, he was accused, by the ruling Communist regime, of fighting against "the brother from the east," and sentenced to twelve more years of confinement in some of the country's worst political prison camps, including the Danube-Black Sea Canal.