An unexpected encounter with the past, the future.I was born in 1948. I arrived on this planet, as did the rest of my generation when the world turned from making war to making love after the Second World War. Like most of my friends, I have never fought a war, but I certainly lived with the mark it left on my parents and grandparents grandparents npl → abuelos mpl grandparents grand npl → grands-parents mpl grandparents grand npl . When I was a teenager and bought a rusted out old Volkswagen beetle This article is about the original Volkswagen Beetle. For the one introduced in 1997, see Volkswagen New Beetle. The Volkswagen Type 1, more commonly known as the Beetle as my first car, my mother was outraged. The war had been over for nearly 20 years but buying anything German was not on. It has taken a long time for me to get to where it began - Berlin. As I write, I am in former East Berlin with the graffiti, the building cranes, the garish new buildings, the poverty, the riches, the legacy of a bombed-out landscape and 40 years of communist rule, along with a new, less giddy, less naive hope for the future a decade after the fall of the Berlin wall. I am unprepared for my reaction. I have been queasy QUEASY - An early system on the IBM 701. [Listed in CACM 2(5):16 (May 1959)]. from the moment we set foot in the country. Berlin was never on my holiday list. I am here on business. I feel like I am attending a documentary on the History Channel. The people are very nice, friendly and welcoming. Mind you I am staying at one of those expensive international hotels that have crowded into East Berlin after the collapse of the wall. I am too polite, or gutless to ask for directions to Sachenhausen, one of the preserved work/death camps. I remain so horrified hor·ri·fy tr.v. hor·ri·fied, hor·ri·fy·ing, hor·ri·fies 1. To cause to feel horror. See Synonyms at dismay. 2. To cause unpleasant surprise to; shock. at the institutional killing of the Third Reich Third Reich Official designation for the Nazi Party's regime in Germany from January 1933 to May 1945. The name reflects Adolf Hitler's conception of his expansionist regime—which he predicted would last 1,000 years—as the presumed successor of the Holy Roman I can't function logically for the first few days. I am irritable. Sixty years later I cannot comprehend how this happened. Nothing explains it, and yet it is all old news. I am not learning or seeing anything I do not already know. Two nights ago I had the pleasure of attending the Berliner Sinfonie-Orchester at the newly refurbished Konzert Haus in East Berlin. It is without question one of the most beautiful evenings of music I have experienced in my life. At intermission, a member of our group who is a distinguished professor from one of Americas top universities, tells us, while we are standing in the foyer, how disgusted he is with a German colleague who was lamenting the horrific effect of Allied bombing on Munich and Berlin during the war. He is outraged. He won't let it go, and the conversation. has come to a halt. A young German woman in our party turns red in the face, but keeps her council. I mention to my learned friend that of course he is right, but how long must the sons and daughters pay the price of the actions of their parents and grand parents. I have stolen this position from my wife who earlier raised the point as I raged about the circumstance of our trip. Berlin, it seems, is where we must come to witness the extremes of our depravity and our potential. It is where the history is not only written by the winners, but by the losers. It is unnerving un·nerve tr.v. un·nerved, un·nerv·ing, un·nerves 1. To deprive of fortitude, strength, or firmness of purpose. 2. To make nervous or upset. . Canada is a sanctuary from the violence of the 20th century. Many of us are economic or religious refugees, but the inhumanity in·hu·man·i·ty n. pl. in·hu·man·i·ties 1. Lack of pity or compassion. 2. An inhuman or cruel act. inhumanity Noun pl -ties 1. of the last century does not mark us. At least, not where we live. We are lucky. As I leave Berlin I have a grudging respect for Berliners' willingness to rebuild, for acknowledging the horrors of the past without wallowing in it. I have sympathy for the plight of East Berliners and I wish them well as they try to come to terms with the commercial world that is now be inflicted on them without restraint. From Hitler to Stalin to Mickey Mouse Mickey Mouse Famous character of Walt Disney's animated cartoons. He was introduced in Steamboat Willie (1928), the first animated cartoon with sound. Mickey was created by Disney, who also provided his high-pitched voice, and was usually drawn by the studio's head animator, . I leave older and wiser. In today's International Herald Tribune International Herald Tribune Daily newspaper published in Paris. It has long been the staple source of English-language news for American expatriates, tourists, and businesspeople in Europe. they report on the first reparation Compensation for an injury; redress for a wrong inflicted. The losing countries in a war often must pay damages to the victors for the economic harm that the losing countries inflicted during wartime. These damages are commonly called military reparations. payments for slaves captured during the Second World War, the Russians who mark the 61st anniversary of the invasion of their country by Hitler and the Pope who is visiting the monument at Babi Yar, a ravine on the outskirts of Kiev where the Nazis massacred more than 30,000 Jews in two days. It has been a very long time, but the final acts of contrition con·tri·tion n. Sincere remorse for wrongdoing; repentance. See Synonyms at penitence. Noun 1. contrition - sorrow for sin arising from fear of damnation contriteness, attrition are being offered and accepted. Soon there will be very few left who lived through this ugly period. Perhaps as we contemplate the trial of Milosevic we can let ourselves believe we have learned from this stain on humanity. I'm glad I came. It was time. |
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