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| Denmark, the morning of 9 April 1940 |
What is it that haunts me about that photo? For one thing, the photo was taken on the day that Nazi Germany invaded Denmark (and Norway as well). Casualties in the invasion of Denmark were what some folks call "light," 49 Danes killed or wounded, 20 Germans killed or wounded. Two of those killed are in that photo above. Not very "light" for those killed or wounded, or their families. Getting wounded isn't like in the movies, where a guy gets hit in the shoulder and a few days later is fine. Most wounds are forever, both mentally and physically.
So there they are, seven men on the cusp of the bloodiest war in human history. For two of those men the war lasted exactly one day. For their families the pain lingered probably until they day they themselves died.
Seventy-nine years ago this weekend, Nazi Germany invaded Poland. On a Friday, the first of September, 1939. From what I have read it was a hot day, summer wasn't over, even at that far northern latitude. (Gdansk, in Poland, is at the same latitude as Labrador in Canada, 54° N). When the news was announced to waiting crowds in Berlin, everyone seemed rather glum at the prospect of another war, after all, World War I had ended just 21 years before. A lot of the people in the crowd no doubt remembered those days, from personal experience or the stories of their parents.
Now, once again, Europe was launched into war once more, by the ineptitude of politicians on both sides and the insanity of the man who ruled Germany, Adolf Hitler. With the invasion of Poland, the war, already raging in parts of China since 1931, would now turn global.
I often wonder what that must have felt like, one day all is normal, the next all is insanity and death.
World War II was most certainly an inferno, millions died, millions more were injured, uprooted from their homes, and lost everything they had. All for the miscalculations and stupidity of those who seek to rule others.
Poland would suffer for a very long time, first under the Nazis, then under the Communists. But the valiant Poles never quit, eventually they arose and took back their nation. But it took a long, long time.
When I think of World War II, I first think of Poland. That's where it began, the roots of the Cold War lie there as well. Never forget.
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| Young Polish boy in the ruins of Warsaw. |
Have no trouble remembering Poland being invaded since I was a history major at university and the war brought my parents together. Ya..... an old fart here.
ReplyDeleteLike Dwight mentions below, we old farts remember history. We need to remind the young.
DeleteNever again is right. Never forget as well. BUT... given today's education system and the lack of the teaching of history, real history, do either of them mean anything when no one knows about what happened except us 'old farts'. And, given what is taught, just because it is in a revisionist history book doesn't make it factual. Watch any "person on the street" interviewed about history and current events and you'll know what I mean.
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean Dwight. It's up to us oldies to remind the young'uns of what went before.
DeleteThe schools are dropping the ball on this.
Profound, Sarg. I tweeted it.
ReplyDeleteThanks BC!
DeleteI once referred to something happening just after the war. A family member ask which one. I said that there has only been one real one. Let it be the last one.
ReplyDeleteOh, there has been more than one "real" one. Ask the 58,318 who died in Vietnam if their's was a "real" war.
DeleteNope, not on the scale of annihilaten of WWII.
DeleteSigh.
DeleteTwice in the 20th century Germany has caused a huge unpleasantness & loss of life in Europe. For the last 70 some years Germany has been a good neighbor. For the last 70 some odd years there have been American troops stationed in Germany too.
ReplyDeleteThat 70 odd years of no war is some sort of record for Germany/Europe I believe...
To have this forgotten would be a huge mistake.
I don't blame Germany for World War I, Russia and Austria-Hungary deserve a big chunk of the blame for that one. The actions of Britain and France at Versailles laid the ground work for World War II. Can't blame the Germans for everything, lots of blame to go around.
DeleteThe loader looks like he's 12, and the three behind him look more like 10.
ReplyDeleteUm, perhaps a little older than that. But yeah, pretty young. Most soldiers are.
DeleteOld men make war for young men.
ReplyDeleteYes, the schools are dropping the ball. As I'm sure most here are aware, this is deliberate. I am firmly convinced that one of the goals of socialized health care death panels is to weed out us old farts along with our memories. I have a good friend who is a retired economics professor. He recently sent me this--
"I have heard for years from Socialists and Communists they are just waiting for our generation to die off. They know the younger generation has largely been won over through "education" and they will win politically without any violence or armed conflict."
That's a terrifying possibility, nay, probability. Being on the inside (for the time being), it appears to me that there are those who resist that mindset at a personal price, those that believe and push that mindset, both relatively small groups. And finally, those who are too lazy, or weak minded to resist, so they just go along to get along. Which effectively means they're on the side of the Socialists.
DeleteMy own 'foster' daughter is an example of the 'new' generation. Voted for BillyJeff because he looked 'cool.' Voted against Bush II because he was supposedly a Republican. Voted for the Lightbringer because to heal the 'rift' of the Civil War (though she can't cite any of the causes of the war besides slavery.) Thinks Trump is a Nazi, but can't tell me what a Nazi was, or is. Voted for Bernie and then Stein, because socialism sounds good to her. She is an example of a whole lost generation.
DeleteFortunately, my discussions with the newer crop of young adults shows many to be fighting this pervasive stupidity. Seems access to unlimited resources and shock and dismay at the antics of Google, Facebook and other social media.
It is something I pray regularly about. That the stupidity will stop somehow, that the forces on the left running towards war and social destruction trip, or stop.
But then again, here in my Florida, the Dem candidate is a Socialist, a Bernie Bro. Who wants to double corporate taxes, looking at instituting income tax, raise property tax, get rid of guns, turn us into Massachussetts. It is enough to want me to pack up and move, but where? Texas? Same forces are rising in juvat-land. So, I will stand and fight, fight the forces of socialist-Ragnarok, not for the lost generation, but for the generation after.
Makes me sick what the schools have done. Makes me sick at myself for not noticing until too late and not being mouthy enough.
RHT447 - the Left wants you to think they are really that organized. If they were, they would have taken over long ago. Want to see Leftists being "organized"? Look no further than Venezuela.
DeleteJuvat - I think you're right as to the percentages. Getting the oblivious to wake up is an issue of some importance. I think we saw that in the 2016 election, enough woke up to keep Shrillary out of office. This year will tell if those voters are still paying attention.
DeleteBeans - There are a lot of stupid people in all generations, it ain't just the young. I can't tell you how many aging hippies I've seen in Little Rhody with "Resist" bumper stickers on their "eCars." Not sure how they plan to "resist."
DeleteBear in mind, we have a lot of older folks here, with no kids in school. We shouldn't listen to the media on that account. There are school districts that suck, far too many, but it ain't all of them. Not yet anyway. Even California has a few good school systems, once you get away from the insane asylums along the coast.
We need to focus on insuring there are more of our three percent than their three percent. The sheeple really don't matter, IMO.
ReplyDeleteI don't give too much credence to mainstream news, from either side. Though there are a lot of "sheep" in the population, there are a lot who are just trying to get by and you won't hear from them until they get pushed too far.
DeleteThe Danes showed remarkable courage when they sheltered and hid their Jewish neighbors, and then moved them across the Oresund to Sweden when they learned that the Germans were going to ship them off to Germany. There are a number of books that recount their story: here's one that I read not so many years ago.
ReplyDeletehttp://a.co/d/aSErQTF
The Danes are awesome. I worked with a few in Germany, good people.
DeleteThe future of our republic is seriously in danger. We are raising a generation that has virtually no understanding of either history or economics. They speak blissfully of a socialistic state without an understanding of what has happened to each nation that has tried socialism. They have no clue as to our history, or the history of other nations or cultures. In fact, they regularly attempt to rewrite history to conform with their uneducated viewpoint. George Santayana is credited with "Those who do not learn from the past are doomed to repeat it." But if you attempt to point out their fallacies you are called racist or NAZI. I fear for the world that our grandchildren will inherent.
ReplyDeleteDon't give up on this generation yet, there are a lot of good ones. They're still enlisting, going into commissioning programs, becoming cops and firefighters, going to work at tech companies out of college.
DeleteThere are many who would have us denigrate the kids, for their own nefarious agenda. Most of it is nonsense, sheer utter nonsense. Someone is trying to make us lose confidence in this nation of ours, and it's working.
Hey AFSarge
ReplyDeleteWWII Was almost preventable, During the armistice talks Wilson for all his crap wanted to let Germany down easy, but the French and British were in a vengeful mood. So that set the tone for the treatment of Germany. You add in the inflation from the weimar republic, the constant fighting in the streets from the communist, socialist, Nazi's and other groups, Germany was in turmoil. This ushered in the Nazi's under Hitler who consolidated his power when Hindenburg died. You add in the lack of spine that Chamberlain did in regards to the occupation of the Saarland, then the annexation of the Sudetenland(Which was a huge chunk of Czechoslovakia) The war was almost a forgone conclusion. As I recall the Heer or German General staff and the Navy was planning for war in 1945, not in 1939, Hitler jumped the gun on his Generals and started the WWII. As far as the Danes, the pics of the soldiers all look young, and I think it is a universal truth.
Indeed.
DeletePoland .... one of the most often invaded nations.
ReplyDeleteBut where are the invaders? Seems they have all been tossed into the ash heap of History, but the Poles remain.
Poland endures!
Delete