Or is it the prospect of a united Germany, putting its horrible past behind it, that sends her scurrying.

Yet the suppression of memory due to trauma is sometimes overcome when an individual, in a court of law, has to confront a horrible past.

Mr. Bush added, "May the children of the future be spared the agony of this horrible past."

Mr. Steiner's eyes were hooded, lost in visions of a horrible past.

Statue Park reminds visitors of the culture's horrible Russian past.

But not the horrible past, the nice past, nice things you had once.

They were avoiding discussion of the night before; rather, their talk concerned the future as a relief from the horrible past.

He explained that a "spirit of mutual forgiveness" would help alleviate the weight of the "horrible past."

She could not understand where she'd found the strength and will to overcome her horrible past.

"Publicly coming forward to give testimony is a way of returning to a horrible past that we are trying to forget," he said.