I know several people whose families have these "scars". These stories are rather common and didn't happen just in Eastern Europe. In my country (Portugal) they happened during decolonization of Africa [1]. Most people lost everything.

As difficult as to get wealth is to keep it.

[1] - Great book about decolonization of Angola written by a foreigner (Polish journalist): http://www.amazon.com/Another-Day-Life-Ryszard-Kapuscinski/d...