I am feeling a bit reflective these days. Perhaps it is because of the research I am currently involved in, or perhaps it is the state of the world in general.
After Sweden recently announced plans to acquire new land for burials in the case of war, it now appears to be Great Britain’s turn. I found the outrage about reusing ordinary graves somewhat curious. It’s certainly a matter of custom. For example, in Germany graves are routinely levelled and reused after about 25 years (it varies from place to place), unless the relatives pay for preserving the grave. The only exceptions are war graves. In theory, those are to be preserved in perpetuity. However, this practice only started after the First World War – so what do we know about perpetuity, really?
In a recent blog post, I reflected on the memory of past wars. My main point was that, left to an organic process, the memory of any war will fade over time, as it becomes less and less relevant to the everyday life of subsequent generations. The First World War, an episode of which I am currently researching, is not even a distant memory but a non-existent memory. I have spoken to quite a number of Bavarians recently, asking them about their ancestors who fought in WW1, and those great-grandchildren or, on rare occasions, grandchildren know very little beyond their names. The memory simply isn’t there anymore.
Now, I’m certainly not promoting becoming a people without a memory. I’m also not an advocate of digging up war graves. But we have to remember that this “perpetuation” is, historically speaking, a very new phenomenon. Time Team, my favorite archaeology series, reported several times on the ongoing dig at Waterloo, particularly the site of a field hospital from the Napoleonic wars. (If you’ve ever wondered what happened to amputated limbs and wounded animals, there’s your answer.) The question that naturally came up was, where are the bodies of all those killed in the battle? Well, according to some records, it appears as if they had been dug up and the bones then ground into powder and used as fertilizer. To our modern sensibilities, this sounds monstrous, but it seems to have been common practice for centuries. So again, I’m not saying reusing war graves – or fertilizing your fields with human bone meal, for that matter – is the way to go, but why are we so squeamish about it now?
Aside from the matter of respect, I think it has to do with the utter callousness that our leadership displays in – well, about everything these days. Why do European countries suddenly need so much space for burials? Is it because of the influx of hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of immigrants against the express wishes of many people native to those countries? Or is it because our government knows that there will be a whole new generation of combatants to be put into those graves?
I don’t see anyone of “the common folk” clamoring for war. There is literally nobody, not even those who still believe everything our politicians and the media tell us. Sure, they believe in the narrative of who’s the good guys and who’s the bad guys, but going to war? No, thank you. And I’m not sure they can be convinced to the contrary.
There is this video on the “1941 Anti-Nazi Film Controversy”. In short, it discusses the disinclination of the American people to go to war with Germany in and before 1941, and how Hollywood slowly but surely changed their attitude. The video clearly calls what Hollywood did propaganda, but sells it to the viewers as a good thing. “If we hadn’t gone to war, we’d all be speaking German now” and all that. However, I am not sure this tactic would work today.
One of Germany’s proudest moment in decades – at least in my opinion – was its refusal to take part in the invasion of Iraq after 9/11. To be honest, I didn’t expect it back then, because even as a political hatchling I had already noticed that Germany always did what it was told to do by the USA. I am still not sure then-Chancellor Gerhard Schröder would not have done exactly that, if the mood in the country had not been so decidedly anti-war and if there hadn’t been elections looming. We are not talking about Afghanistan; that was seen as a justified attack. But Iraq was so obviously political and personal (“Bush is trying to finish his dad’s work,” we mocked the rhetoric back then) that nobody bought the crude lie of weapons of mass destruction Saddam Hussein was said to have.
It was the weirdest situation: Germany, France and Russia, those traditional enemies (or so we are constantly being told), suddenly formed a united front against the “free world”. I still remember the headline: “Non, nyet, nein”, leading to the three countries being called the “non–nyet–nein alliance” or even “non-nyet-nein axis“(!). It lead to “Freedom fries”. The whole situation was a lesson in how “free” Europe really is and how our imperial masters expect us to act – or else! The propaganda machine turned on the literal naysayers at the drop of a hat.
Of course, looking back on it now, there were a ton of things that I didn’t know about the whole mess. And of course, Germany and France in particular were quick to assure the USA of their continued friendship and promised aid to the rebuilding of Iraq – as soon as it had been bombed to pieces. So much for that. There was a real chance there for a new direction in European and especially German politics. Sadly, that was a road not taken. So here we are, talking about burial space.
I wonder what it would take for Europe to assert itself again. Is it even possible anymore? A start would certainly be refusing to take part in America’s endless wars and their aftermath. Perhaps that would even have the effect of strengthening the advocates for peace in the USA. Westerners are sick and tired of their money going to causes that benefit anyone but them. (“Our global partners”, as the saying goes.) They have seen regime after evil regime topple and things getting worse and worse instead of better as a result. The slogan of “Making the world safe for democracy” simply isn’t working anymore. By now, Westerners are painfully aware that even more refugees (and those masquerading as such) will flood their countries in the case of war. This had to stop. The only question is – how?
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“I wonder what it would take for Europe to assert itself again. Is it even possible anymore? A start would certainly be refusing to take part in America’s endless wars and their aftermath.”
Refusing to take part in America’s wars by withdrawing from NATO is a good first step. Second step is for Europe to dispose of its paranoia and fear of Russia. There is a (perhaps conspiracy) theory that the three world powers have together come to an agreement that China gets Taiwan, Russia gets parts of Ukraine, and thus Europe will once again be dependent on USA for security. Before the Ukraine war, Europe had for some time asserted itself and taken a more independent position on world matters and distanced itself from the path of USA.
“By now, Westerners are painfully aware that even more refugees (and those masquerading as such) will flood their countries in the case of war. This had to stop. The only question is – how?”
The warmonger and the weapon industry must bring in the Big Money hence more crisis.
Refusing to take part in America’s wars by withdrawing from NATO is a good first step. Second step is for Europe to dispose of its paranoia and fear of Russia.
Agreed; however, with Trump in power, I’m afraid the opposite will happen. Now, Trump may be good for American interests – that’s how it should be for any leader of any country. And I’m not saying it is the US’s job of looking after European interests. But what I suspect will happen now is that Trump will try to withdraw the US from any involvement in the Ukraine war because he considers it to be a European war, and it’s expensive. Never mind that NATO, aka the USA, aka certain interest groups are not innocent at all in the whole mess.
So Trump will once again expect Europe to help clear up other people’s wars. That in itself wouldn’t be so bad – maybe we could negotiate a peace (even though I’m not sure we aren’t beyond the point of no return by now). But at the same time, if Europe were to really assert itself and pursue its own interests – for example by forging closer ties with Russia – Trump would bring the hammer down, and another pipeline would get blown up or something. Because Europe is a colony, and it would hurt the interests of the colonial power to let it make its own decisions. That is the European predicament, as I see it.
Perhaps I’m wrong. Perhaps the war lobby won’t allow any US withdrawal from Ukraine. But either way, an independent Europe will take time, and it will take cleverness. And better leadership, most of all.
Excellent and trenchant comment, Ms Schnabel. European nations and their relationship with the USA have reached a crossroads. It’s about damn time.
Russia started the largest war in Europe since WWII less than three years ago. It is not “paranoid” to think Russia is an enemy of Europe.
The reason many ppl today seem incapable of perceiving Russia as a threat is probably related to the Leftist origins of modern conspiracy culture.
One example is Daniele Ganser, a Swiss academic who appears at first glance to be neutral, but in fact promotes a ridiculously anti-American view of Cold War (and post Cold War) history in which the Soviets/Russians never had any agency or ill-intentions. Interestingly, Ganser’s supervisor at the University of Basel, Georg Kreis, was the longtime director of Switzerland’s”Federal Commission against Racism”.
Also opposing the Iraq War was Belgium, which was especially castigated by Mark Steyn at the time.
As bad as our own memory holing important parts of European history, the newly arrived resentful horde have no such qualms or care about western history and culture, past or present.
I’ve heard of graveyards being built over, in muslim conrolled areas in the UK. Not enough local English left to protect the heritage.
My 9-year-old nephew is doing a project of his own for school and picked WW1. He listens to me the little tyke. I told him the great wars were brother wars, very damaging to our people, and that the people who start the wars but never fight in them themselves are goblin rats, but I’ll explain that bit to him when he is older.
For now he is happy to do his bullet points and include aspects like the Christmas football truce, the excellent German trench set up compared to the British, 2 sides fighting all day for little gain, and mad lads like Adrian Carton de Wiart, who fought in wars because he thought they were fun.
I don’t know if there exists “the Ultimate Evil Plan”, but it’s wise to operate with an assumption that it does. There is a real prospect of a huge war coming.
You must become extremely cautious if the propaganda apparatus changes its rhetoric towards saner positions. I think that they can cater to normal people and, for example, restrict refugee influx, get rid of some stupid bureaucratic regulations etc. Of course, it would correlate with a pro-war campaign aimed at real Germans, French and others. Your gauleiters would also like to use right-wingers at the front as much as possible. Most likely, it’s not going to work at all, but be attentive.
“If we hadn’t gone to war, we’d all be speaking German now.”
It looks today like a title for Der Spiegel… 🙂
“I wonder what it would take for Europe to assert itself again.”
Something huge. A war may become a catalyst. It’s going to happen anyway, sooner or later. I am optimistic about your prospects – it’s really the bottom point, so only cadence is possible. 🙂 Our current mess is amplified by the fallout of WW1 and WW2 and their results, otherwise it would have been overcome long ago. And afterwards, there would be a lot of Wagners, Heisenbergs, Schwarzschilds and von Brauns.
Of course, in order to achieve it, you need active participation in political organisations and other real life activism. If you have some instruments that can be used for good, like AfD, you must do it and encourage others.
It looks today like a title for Der Spiegel…
Only too true…!
I am optimistic about your prospects – it’s really the bottom point, so only cadence is possible.
As we say: “Schlimmer geht immer.” – It can always get worse. 😉
But I agree, participation is key. As for the AfD, let’s see if they ban it or not and then take it from there. I also think an important “soft” approach is strengthening an ethnic awareness by pointing out how beautiful everything European is. People need to be reminded of their cultural heritage. They need to want to preserve it. Make it “cool” again to be European.
A disgrace that our ancestors don’t even have graves to turn over in. The coolness factor is thankfully very much on the side of the zoomer-alpha gen. I just finished a second helping of James O’Meara’s writing and the dance clubs as White autonomous zones in Peter Gatien’s heyday are peak cool as are Michael Alig’s comments about who they’re not for (blacks and amerinds). Boomerbrained old fartgeezers like crowder, tim pool, and dan bongino (you don’t have to be 60-78 to be boomered) rambling on their boring inconsequential humdrum that ducks race and jews are over, and thank christ for that. ‘conservative’ has long been slotted into the pathologically uncool fogeyism by raceful people who see the bought coward enablers of civilizational destruction for what they are. Snakes and lowly worms. The gut reflex revulsion at that word and its obligatory judeophilia is a MAJOR turn off whose stink has cleared the room. Now they’re coming to where the White Powers be at. Our side it all: youth, elder wisdom, fight clubs, intelligence, fashism wear (girls luv a guy in uniform), humor and wit, real challenges to criminal power, creative art worth its presence, and essential truth. Our side offers a glimmering light future of promise and things to look forward to. The rest of them will long be forgotten by their own urns, not even worth remembering by boos as they’re shamefully good riddanced off the history stage.
My mother once told me that graves are reused in Germany, but not the graveyard in the small town my father was from. My grandparents are both buried there, and so is one of the Kaiser’s sons. My father told me once that he would give kids candy and chocolate after the war (WW II) when people didn’t have much. I went there this summer to see my 87-year-old uncle. He always lived in the same town his whole life. We had coffee in front of the house my grandparents owned for decades from the 1930s or earlier until the 1990s.
I often spoke to my parents about the war, but much more with my mother than my father. Both of my grandfathers were soldiers in WW I, and my father’s father was in WW II also, but I think more as part of the occupation troops. We have a picture of him in Paris on a motorcycle with a sidecar. My father said they brought him back to Germany when the bombing got worse. He installed windows.
Both of my grandfathers received the Iron Cross in WW I. My mother’s father received the Iron Cross first class while serving on the eastern front, and my father’s father received the medal second class while serving on the western front. I have the Iron Cross from my grandfather on my father’s side and his passbook that shows where he served.
I regret not learning German and talking to all of my relatives about what they experienced. I think they all had interesting lives, and like everyone else, hard lives after the war.Their stories would have made a good book. I have a feeling few people from Germany wrote books like that, and a lot has been lost because of that. I think people were discouraged from speaking about those times openly, and a lot of history has been lost because of that, but I think a lot could come out in the future.
People’s diaries or memoirs can be very educational, and you can learn things that illustrate that much of what you have been told is not true.
I found this short booklet written by Heinz Weichardt, a patriotic German half-Jew (on his mother’s side) who volunteered to serve in the German armed forces but was turned down because of his Jewish mother, but he loved Germany until his death. I think that if there were enough German Jews like him, there would have been no war, or it would have been much smaller and shorter.
https://archive.org/stream/UnderTwoFlagsByHeinzWeichardt/UnderTwoFlags-HeinzWeichardt_djvu.txt
I don’t think people were discouraged to talk about the war; they simply didn’t talk about it. It was a very common mindset for past generations. My own grandparents and great-grandparents were like that, and I’m hearing it again and again from the people in Bavaria that I’m currently in contact with: “He never spoke about the war.” It only seems to have changed after WW2. A radio journalist I worked with on a project once said, “I meet those who don’t talk about the war, and those who don’t stop talking about the war.”
Lucky you for having those mementos! My family didn’t keep anything – no idea why. My mother says when she and my father were young, they just weren’t interested. Even my grandfather’s last letters from Stalingrad are gone; I’d give a lot to have those.
It’s not important, but I don’t recall if my grandfather is sitting on the motorcycle or in the sidecar in the photo I mentioned. He might be sitting in the sidecar. We have photos of my father and his town in the 1930s and 1940s. I believe we have a picture of an American tank in town after the Americans arrived. I believe the Americans moved into my family’s house for a while. I can ask my uncle. The photos are fuzzy, but I believe they can be restored. My sister is holding most of them. I may try to have them restored. I have two photos from my mother’s family. Either she or someone else took them when they fled westward from Brieg in Schlesien. I’m sorry you don’t have your grandfather’s letters from Stalingrad. I can imagine how you wished you had those. That is real history, and your family’s history.
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