WWII is considered by many to be
their ‘favorite war.’ Why is that? Well, I would say it’s because the Second
World War is perceived as a black and white war, a good against evil war. And
compared to the wars since, with their convoluted involvements and motives, it
was.
But
WWII was far from simple.
Anyone who digs deeper into fate of the Nazis, for instance, soon finds
that
there were plenty left in power after the war.
Their ideas about so-called ‘purity of race’ were by no means unique,
since the
eugenics movement of the 20’s and 30’s had worldwide adherents (though
of course the Nazis took it to the extreme of genocide). Dive bombing
was invented by an American and used by the British in Iraq.
Concentration
camps were invented by the British and used in South Africa. Russia was
aligned
with the Axis at the beginning, and with the Allies by the end.
No, wars are never simple. And yet, as wars go, WWII was one of the more straightforward.
Nazism was more than just a different way of doing business – it was a way of
life based on brutality and subjugation, and it was spreading. Was the rest of
the world to do nothing about it? Something had to be done. That word
‘sacrifice,’ the one that’s used to so much when soldiers are mentioned, is a
very real concept. People gave their chance on this earth to help others have theirs.
WWII is also still – just – within
memory of the living. Unlike the Great War, the ‘War to End All Wars,’ of
1914-18, we still have veterans around who fought in it, still have refugees
that fled it. And it was the first well-filmed and well-reported war.
My family members served in it,
lived through it, brought up children during its air raids, sheltered kids who
were evacuated from its targets. I have an aunt whose family was gassed in a
camp because of their religion. It has
meaning for me because, I think, the powerful issues that affect the lives of
parents are handed down, in some way, to their children.
But why do people still write books
and make movies about it? Because it was still, in the end, good against
evil. And good won.
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