In the first of this three-part series of articles on this topic, I will
explore the still contentious notion that many German civilians
were also victimized in WWII.
"History is the version of past events that people have decided to agree upon." (Napoleon Bonaparte)
When we think of victims of WW II, we generally do not consider Germans. We seem to have agreed on a version of history that does not include the stories of German children, women and elderly. Their stories are forgotten, and their voices unheard. The tricky thing is that in the absence of a collective response and recognition, historical trauma can find a future. Unacknowledged historical trauma is a hotbed for resentment, bitterness, hatred and the cultivation of new conflicts. To break cycles of hatred we need to respond communally. In the context of the suffering of German civilians during and right after WWII, we have the opportunity to offer a collective response. Many of the Germans who lived through post-war experiences are nearing the end of their life, and some of them are breaking the "conspiracy of silence" as German historian and television director Guido Knopp called it. And their children, says Knopp, are patient. They are willing to listen without immediately accusing their parents of being 'Nazi's'. In doing so, healing, mourning and the acknowledgement of guilt can go hand in hand.
Who were the German Victims?
There were many victims among German civilians. Consider for example the million tons of Royal Air Force bombs alone, dropped on 131 German cities, destroying three and a half million homes, killing between five hundred thousand and nine hundred thousand civilians and displacing 600,000. Between 25,000-35,000 German civilians died in the bombings that practically flattened the city of Dresden. Other German cities targeted by the so-called "terror-bombings" (also called "area bombardment) suffered similar amounts of casualties. These 'terror bombings' had no military purpose whatsoever but were intended only to harm civilians. And of the twelve million German civilians fleeing the eastern parts of Germany (Poland, Czech Republic), an estimated two million died. Russian soldiers and Polish milicja raped an unknown number of women and girls during this exodus. Just before and immediately after German capitulation, the Russians sent 530,000 Germans to camps in Siberia, from which many never returned. And at the end of the war, the Wilhelm Gustloff, jam-packed with between six to ten thousand refugees, mostly women and children trying to flee the Soviet advance through Prussia, was torpedoed and sank within an hour, making for the biggest boat-tragedy in history.
German historian W. G. Serbald has wondered why such astonishing suffering has left so little trace in collective consciousness, both in and outside of Germany. How is it that German victims of the Second World War have up until now largely been left un-named and un-mourned?
References
Sebald, W. G. (2003). On the natural history of destruction. Toronto: Knopf.
Wever-Rabehl, G. (2005). Liberation from the Future and the Past: Naming and Mourning the Germans Who Died. European Weekly, June 2005.
Wever-Rabehl, G. (2004). Inside the parrot cage: Dialogues and reflections on history, trauma and memory. Lincoln: IUniverse.
The copyright of the article History, Trauma and Memory in Anthropology is owned by Gerda Wever-Rabehl. Permission to republish History, Trauma and Memory must be granted by the author in writing.
Comments
May 27, 2006 12:56 PM
Daniel Fernandes
:
I consider that something calls the silence. This kind of silence comes because it is necessary to forget something many traumatic. And we only can come back this narratives trhought the letters, fictionaly literature, and personal papers.
May 28, 2006 12:12 PM
Gerda Wever-Rabehl
:
Thanks, Jurupari, for your message. I agree with you, that trauma sometimes calls for and needs silence. In some cases, though, silence is imposed, when stories of persecution and suffering find no listening ear despite the teller's willingness to share it. This sort of perpetuated silence can be a dangerous breeding ground for new hatred and potential new social conflict. Finding some threads of it through the autobiographical, as you suggest, in letters, literature and or personal papers, is an excellent way to preserve these tales and to ensure that they can find some audience after all.
Jun 4, 2006 4:55 PM
Droevig Betreur
:
War is a parasite on all societies. We are all victimized by war. We are maimed if the war is in our neighbourhood and we are emotionally traumatized even when the war is not. Consider the three-tons of nitrates just found in Ontario.
Of course masses of Germans were victimized as were masses in all parts of Europe, Asia and North America.
The psychology of war requires that we personify an issue and learn to blame all that isn't right upon that personification. Sadam Hussein, George Bush, Jews, Arabs, homos, Left, Right …. In determining who is right and who is wrong, we divide right and wrong in neat piles on each side of the line dividing right and wrong—bad and good.
History isn’t written until there is a victor. Had the Germans won, there would have been no end to the stories of atrocities heaped upon humanity by the Axis. Unfortunately, for the Germans, Hitler inflated a flagging pride by vilifying Jews, queers and the mentally infirm. Hitler inflated German pride until it became megalomania. The victors’ remedy was to annihilate and transform that condition. To this day, anytime the Germans start to feel right about themselves, there is an unending line of people who are all too ready to remind the Germans and their corporations of forced slavery etc.
Should we talk openly about the trauma experienced by the German people? You betcha! Should we examine how it is that national pride can turn into national megalomania? We really need to discuss that. Fundamentalist Christians and fundamentalist Muslims have given us a wake-up call.
Dutch social scientist Henk Houweling says, “one of the causes of war is war itself.” We are living in the midst of a world war right now. As wars are being fought, new ones are being planned. Part of the current state of affairs might be linked to the fact that we haven’t fully discussed what the hell went on in Germany. We haven’t taken the time to realize that the German people are people no different than you or I. We run on the same physiological system, our brains are the same and we respond to the same motivators. What happened to the German people could happen right here in North America.
Jun 5, 2006 12:31 PM
Gerda Wever-Rabehl
:
Thanks for your message- I could not agree with you more. You are really onto something when you say that our tendency to "personify" or "categorize" all that is not right is a dangerous one. The work of British social scientist Norbert Elias comes to mind- the maintenance of "in" and "out" groups can, and usually does, turn around for the worse. There's no easy answer- as you say, our need to divide who's right and who's wrong (who's "us" and who's "them") is part and parcel of the kind of creatures we are.
Having said that, I think that personal, autobiographical narratives can disrupt those "neat piles on each side of that line" [between right and wrong]. Personal memories and autobiographical stories can function as a link between personal and collective memory and have the potential to pierce through ready-made and rigid categories of right and wrong.
Jun 11, 2006 6:08 PM
Daniel Fernandes
:
How do you see the relation between a person who suffer the violence and a person who gives violence? I believe that only re-doing the receiver's violence route we can be understand how was his relations, mediations, acceptances and refusals.
Jun 12, 2006 7:08 AM
Droevig Betreur
:
Jurupari, I'll answer your question with a question: What effect does the Stockholm syndrome have on people who are held hostage by beliefs? There may be a close identification between victim and perpetrator if the act isn't random and momentary.
Recounting horror can be traumatizing for both the victim and purpetrator. In war time the "villian" is dehumanized. Villians are no longer people they are things--japs, huns, gooks, honkies, niggers. When we dehumanize a person, we are given licence to treat them or mistreat to the level at which we value them. Wisdom has it that if taken hostage, you are in greater peril of death once a hood is placed over your head.
Classical conditioning uses "extinction" as a method to help patients overcome behaviours associated with past trauma. Talking about the horrors and feelings is a major part of extinction. Storytelling has restorative properties for the victim and the perpetrator. I say the perpetrator because as a human, I may view you as a human today; war-type thinking may make me view you in a way that leads to dehumanization; when the war-time fades and my thinking rebalances, I may again think of you as a human. What then do I think of myself? What demons must I then suppress?
For the rest of us, the storytelling is a learning experience where we have the opportunity to identify the beginnings of dangerous thinking and perhaps avoid repeating history.
Jun 18, 2006 12:20 PM
Daniel Fernandes
:
Thanks to answer my question. In fact, I know you are right, but when I did that question I was point out to writeroom and my intention was something in the methodological space. However, you gave answer to me in another foccus which it was good too. Thanks
Jul 24, 2006 5:37 PM
Sean Caomhanach
:
See the way when we talk about things like war, crime, slavery and bad gear in general. We try to be so piggin civilized that we cant be seen to blame anyone. Maybe if we just said these people were wrong and drew bolts from the Gods down on themselves.Any one could feel for them then as we've all known moments when we were due a doom and escaped it.
