I know that WW2 has been widely documented, but I can't help but thinking that we have dropped the ball massively when it comes to getting eye-witness and soldier accounts of it, particularly when it comes to the Axis and Russians.
I recently came across the site Facing Stalingrad whose mission is to try and solve this by giving us German and Russian survivor accounts of the Battle of Stalingrad, detailing things that I have never seen mentioned --or even hinted at-- anywhere else. It's a brilliant and valiant effort, greatly appreciated at that, too... but the thing that got my mind going is that some of the interviews ended with: "X passed away in...". We are simply running out of time when it comes to learning about unsung heroes, battle and horror. And I think that preventing that is our responsibility, as citizens of a world inherited from those who helped shaped the way it is now.
Before anyone says it, yes... I know that WW2 wasn't exactly a walk in the park and that most of the people who were unfortunate enough to have partaken on it are happy to just leave it behind them, but I can't help but noticing how Europe as a whole has this big "never again" vibe to it (despite ongoing efforts by some groups and countries that clamor for a repeat), yet this purpose is entirely defeated if we render all those years of battle, horror and shelling into historical facts and stats; it's the personal accounts that bring those events to life. And the more we have, the easier to paint a clear image of why war sucks.
We live in a world in which WW2 has been sadly glorified. Where games and movies tend to make it look like the coolest thing ever and with an environment so soaked by a Manichean way of thinking, it leaves no room for nuances. According to many of these pieces of media and documentary accounts, there were no good Germans, nor where they any humanitarian Russians... they were basically things to be gunned down. That's a terrible mistake to make, because then stories like that of Karl-Heinz Rosch get buried forever under a sea of misinformation. Such is the risk of not asking. Of not learning.
But we must draw the line somewhere, too... is it really ok for us to contact thousands --if not millions-- or surviving WW2 army personnel from across all nations involved just to ask them to dig up a ghost-infested past they have probably tried to bury for decades? It's a tricky call.
Regardless, though... if there are voices that wanted to be heard, it is our duty to listen. We will never learn everything, but the more we know, the richer we will become. And time is running out for us when it comes to that, with each passing day tragically becoming one chance forever lost.
Thoughts?
I recently came across the site Facing Stalingrad whose mission is to try and solve this by giving us German and Russian survivor accounts of the Battle of Stalingrad, detailing things that I have never seen mentioned --or even hinted at-- anywhere else. It's a brilliant and valiant effort, greatly appreciated at that, too... but the thing that got my mind going is that some of the interviews ended with: "X passed away in...". We are simply running out of time when it comes to learning about unsung heroes, battle and horror. And I think that preventing that is our responsibility, as citizens of a world inherited from those who helped shaped the way it is now.
Before anyone says it, yes... I know that WW2 wasn't exactly a walk in the park and that most of the people who were unfortunate enough to have partaken on it are happy to just leave it behind them, but I can't help but noticing how Europe as a whole has this big "never again" vibe to it (despite ongoing efforts by some groups and countries that clamor for a repeat), yet this purpose is entirely defeated if we render all those years of battle, horror and shelling into historical facts and stats; it's the personal accounts that bring those events to life. And the more we have, the easier to paint a clear image of why war sucks.
We live in a world in which WW2 has been sadly glorified. Where games and movies tend to make it look like the coolest thing ever and with an environment so soaked by a Manichean way of thinking, it leaves no room for nuances. According to many of these pieces of media and documentary accounts, there were no good Germans, nor where they any humanitarian Russians... they were basically things to be gunned down. That's a terrible mistake to make, because then stories like that of Karl-Heinz Rosch get buried forever under a sea of misinformation. Such is the risk of not asking. Of not learning.
But we must draw the line somewhere, too... is it really ok for us to contact thousands --if not millions-- or surviving WW2 army personnel from across all nations involved just to ask them to dig up a ghost-infested past they have probably tried to bury for decades? It's a tricky call.
Regardless, though... if there are voices that wanted to be heard, it is our duty to listen. We will never learn everything, but the more we know, the richer we will become. And time is running out for us when it comes to that, with each passing day tragically becoming one chance forever lost.
Thoughts?
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