V-E Day
Dachau Gate
Originally uploaded by Mistress Tootie Belle.
60 years ago. May 8, 1945. Victory in Europe Day. Germany does what it had said it will never do- surrenders. Unconditionally. Hitler is gone, Italy has fallen, and now there is the death of millions of Germans, British, French, American, Dutch, Russian. More than that, it is the death of an ideology. An ideology that fosters a culture of death, the idea of a master race, child turning in parent, brother against brother. 6 million Jews are murdered. 5 million other undesirables- Gypsies, Greeks, mentally ill, physically handicapped, elderly, the "unwanted". In Auschwitz, Bergen-Belsen, Dachau, death camps in which survivors are greeted by troops who cannot believe their eyes. They must forget these horrors in order to survive.
60 years ago. Hope comes once again to Europe, and to its remaining allies. The work of rebuilding the Continent has only begun, and before the end another insidious horror will claim numerous more lives and minds. But on this day, a victory. A hope for the future, a hope for a better world, for an enemy has been conquered, and a people has been set free. The battle continues, in the Pacific, and at home the battle for hearts and minds is still being fought. But today, there is rejoicing. Rejoicing for the boys who are coming home, and sorrow for the ones who did not return. Today, there is victory. Victory in Europe, and hope for the world.
60 years ago. May 8, 1945. May we never forget.
Look beyond what you see...
posted by Nettie @ 5/09/2005 01:36:00 AM
7 Comments:
Thanks. Eloquent and concise.
I admit to having trouble seeing the victory as anything other than a temporary respite from the onslaught of hideously life-denying ideologies, for Communism/Marxism reared their ugly heads of death in response to Germany's fall, killing millions upon millions in the next 5 decades; fanatical Islamo-fascism is now in ascendance over that continent we liberated 60 years ago, and spreads it gospel of intolerance via numerous jihads; and the spectre of Marxism still roams the campuses of America, force feeding their charges a steady diet of devaluation of human life through abortion, euthanasia, gay marriage, and support for the UN--a killing machine in its own right (witness the atrocities of Rwanda, Bosnia, the Congo, and the aiding and abetting strategies in Iraq and elsewhere).
We must never forget that ideology based on anything other than God's word and His Son crucified and resurrected, will inevitably lead to a devaluation of His children, and is thus to be shunned and opposed at every turn. Vigilance is our call, and also part of the price we pay for the freedoms we hold so dear as blessed citizens of these United States of American.
Being of Roma (Gypsy) descent, I am quite sensitive to comments still made about 'my people.'
The discrimination still goes on.
I was in a particular shop in Winnipeg (where I used to live) when a radio announcement came on about how people should be aware of 'the travellers' (the prefered name of many Roma) that were camping in the South of the city and basically how evil they were.
Something rose up in me and I was able to declare that we were not all wicked like that.
Freedom is relative, when you put it into the context of present day discriminations.
When anyone declares that a kitchen spatula is a 'gypper) they discriminate.
When anyone declares that someone has 'gypped'me out of something (or jipped me) they are reffering to my heritage.
There are even Christian songs written about the evils of our people. Thank God for a son who stands up to these injustices.
And the list can go on and on. I was even told one time (by a wonderful Christian leader that I should not wear big hoop earings because I was trying to look like a Gypsy (which I am) and that was something evil.
I do not condone some of the practices of my relatives. They are foreign to me beacause I, like many other Roma people, have embraced Jesus Christ. But I do condone the embracing of ones culture as far as scripture and God allow us to do that. And I do not accept the continuing anti-sematic, anti anything culture that seems to remain - sadly!!!
I am thankful for the freedom that many people fought and died for...but the battle continues on many fronts.
Bless you for talking about this.
Powerful words from one extraordinary lady...
Thanks.
Nice posting Nettie. It's unfortunate Europe did not learn anything from WWI or WWII. Jeff's right; it's always nice to know that ultimately everything is in His hands. The peace that surpasses all understanding; how sad it must be to not know that.
darling Nettie!! I'm back!! lol
It's a pity that Europe has mostly forgotten what was fought over in WWII.
Nettie,
Did you read the article the other day on MSNBC about Hitler's nurse? She's in her nineties and talking about her time spent in the bunker during those last days.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7710719/
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