Germans Learned the Lessons of WWII
Sadly, Americans did not
Americans have never fought a foreign power on our soil. Maybe that’s why it is so easy for us to forget the horrors of War II. I wonder how many survivors of that war, now living in the United States, voted for Trump. Not many, I’m thinking.
You can’t experience the devastation Europe experienced during that war without learning something. And maybe some of the lessons learned aren’t good — like the feeling that any outsider is a problem. That feeling seems to have fed the current far-right movement, which is alive and well throughout Europe. But we should not forget that this movement was deliberately fed by those intent on destroying the unity that was created in Europe after WWII — and it is based on the lie that anybody who is different is a threat.
Fortunately, there is a larger and more powerful movement taking shape in Europe today, and it reflects a more profound understanding than the simplistic view that anyone not native to one’s country is a problem. It is the recognition of an old evil and the understanding that comes with it: Tyrants are not the way of the future; aggressors are not our saviors; violence is never the answer to a problem — merely a dangerous detour that is both costly and unnecessary.
As Jeremy Sachs said in his recent address to the European Parliament, “War is an intellectual mistake.” It is a failure of monumental proportions — a failure to listen, communicate, respect, and respond to truth rather than lies, manipulations, and regressive emotions.
War is proof that leadership is incompetent.
Remembering the Holocaust
A few years ago, I traveled to Europe to meet up with family living there and cruise the Danube River. It was a spectacular trip. We capped off the adventure with a few days in Nuremberg, where we were met by two of my in-laws and their wives, one of whom now lives in Germany — the other who was living in London at the time.
None of us had ever been to the Document Center in Nuremberg, so it seemed like a great spot to visit together. It is located near the Nazi Party Rally Grounds. It was a surreal experience on many levels. But the overriding feeling that surrounded every moment of it was the sense that we were there to bear witness and to ensure that wherever we might go from that moment forward, we would never allow ourselves to forget what happened to the millions of people persecuted, tortured and murdered in a pointless and misguided attempt to create a “master race.”
Why history matters
The volume of material on display at the Center was overwhelming. It would be impossible to visit this solemn place without realizing how absurdly stupid or psychologically challenged holocaust deniers must be. There is simply no way to have fabricated the quality and quantity of evidence on display there— a fact that makes it impossible for a rational being to believe in the conspiracy theory that the holocaust never occurred. And this is why it was and still is so important for this Center to remain open to anybody who wishes to visit — particularly for the German people. This is how they learn from their past — how they can look forward to a new world, understanding that destroying others is not the answer, no matter how complex or challenging the problem.
Here in America, we have only vague memories of loved ones, mostly gone now, who once returned from a war with the scars that war inevitably leaves. It is ancient history for us. But for anyone who visits the Document Center in Nuremberg, it is all too vivid.
So, it seems logical to me today to hear that the one leader in Europe most eager and vocal about creating an alliance of European nations to fight for Ukraine regardless of the failure of the United States to maintain support for its NATO allies — in violation of its decades-long promise — would be Germany.
Germany will lead the effort to defeat Russia and save Ukraine
The seeds of this effort were planted the moment Trump made clear the abdication of his role as leader of the free world. Germany’s Friedrich Merz, the Conservative leader and head of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) expected to be the next chancellor of Germany, took the opportunity to make his intentions clear.
“In view of the threats to our freedom and peace on our continent, the rule for our defense now has to be ‘whatever it takes,’” he said. — BBC
And as Shankar Narayan, one of my favorite writers on Medium (and Substack) put it:
Just hours before Germany went to the polls, the CDU leader — front-runner and heir to a party that has long been the backbone of Europe’s transatlantic alliance — dropped a bombshell. He wasn’t hedging like Macron. He wasn’t threading the needle like Starmer. Merz was calling for a clean, decisive break from the United States.
It won’t be easy — but nothing worthwhile ever is
There are many hurdles to overcome, but one of the first will be rallying other European countries to forge an alliance that is not dependent on support from the United States, and the first steps have already been taken.
Merz met with Macron recently to begin negotiations with France to extend their nuclear deterrence to the rest of Europe. At the same time, Merz has taken action to garner support within Germany for increasing the debt limit for defense spending to surpass the cap of 1% that currently prevents them from borrowing more than this amount. This is no small feat, but already, Germany’s two largest political parties have agreed to a constitutional amendment that would make this possible.
As Narayan points out, Merz is moving quickly and decisively. “And if there’s one thing we know about the Germans, it’s that once they set their sights on something, stopping them is nearly impossible.”
America saved Germany once — now Germany will save Ukraine— and perhaps even America
I am not a fortune teller. But I have hope. And what I am seeing today gives me a sense of optimism. When people learn from history, as the Germans have, they have great power.
When people lie and believe the lies of others, they become weak and incompetent. You can’t solve problems with lies; you can only attempt to hide them. This is where America is today under Donald Trump’s failed leadership. We are powerless and ridiculous in the eyes of the world.
Germany will be the new leader of the free world, alongside Ukraine, whose valiant people have fought and died for the freedom to live as we have lived our entire lives — until now.
Perhaps we needed a dose of tyranny at home to finally understand how extraordinarily lucky we are. Perhaps it’s time for the rest of the world to finally teach us a lesson. And if we can learn it well, perhaps there is hope for America, too.
Note: I found this online. It is the letter President Eisenhower sent to the members of the Allied Expeditionary Force on June 6, 1944 — D Day. On that day, my father-in-law, pictured above, flew a group of soldiers to the beaches of Normandy. As he did, the father of my brother-in-law’s wife, an anti-aircraft gunner in the German Army, did his best to shoot him down. Decades later, they met and shook hands.
And so it goes.
