Musings from Deutschland -1

Humanism vs. Barbarsim

Perhaps when we look in retrospect to a specific period in history we realize how short sighted the masses living in that period were. When we analyze history we are apalled to at the miscalculations done by the leaders during this period and are flabbergasted to think how the masses followed their footsteps like a flock of bleeting sheep. Yet, we hardly realize that we are also committing the same mistakes in our era. we analyze, criticize, but never learn ourselves. Events in history, time and again, are repetitive and so are the great blunders. They may occur at different places in different times, nevertheless, they occur.Nature of the follies, committed by mankind across different times and spaces are also same. Now, after reading books written by British and US historians, glorifying their victory and villifying Germany, we tend to think, why didnt the Germans overthrow such a cruel and barbaric regime of Nazis.But the fact remains that though externally we feel the regime to be oppressive and cruel, does internally people belonging to an oppressive regime think so?Esp. if the regime is not oppressive to them but to somebody else, somebody whose very existence is loathsome, or at best doesnt matter to the people of that regime. Answer is an emphatic 'No'. So masses fall behind their warlords, and pain and suffering are the results born out of it - a crushing defeat, a gang of invading marauders plundering and raping the womenfolk, humiliation and degradation.We therefore understand the psychology of people who passively and actively supported the persecution of Jews and Poles, but who otherwise were God fearing and decent. Perhaps there is always a justification of every kind of crimes committed by human, he being a rational animal. So he can justify his animal instincts. Other animals dont go for wanton killing, they kill for food, so there is always a natural justification to their action. In case of mankind absence of such natural justification gives rise to a forced justification. And the crux of the problem lies in the fact that he himself actually begins to believe in that forced justification. So that forced justification in a way gets imbibed in their spirits and transforms itself and manifests into a natural justification. Therein lies the secret of success of methods of brainwashing adopted by oppressive regimesWife of one of my colleagues had asked me a very innocent question - "You have travelled a lot. Did you ever visit any concentration camp?" She went to the extent of saying that she would be very much interested to visit such camps.Another girl whom I met asked me in most surprised tone - "You are in Hitler's land and didnt visit any concentration camp?". I told her in a somewhat cold tone that I am not in Hitler's land as Hitler is dead long time back. Perhaps, there is a certain degree of romanticism and glorification attached to every atrocity committed. Such glorifications are magnified when depicted for instance in a Hollywood movie.Germany despite its glorious past is unforunately only associated with Nazi terrors, gas chambers and camps like Auswitz and Dachau, thanks to relentless propaganda of allied forces and their historians. Am not for once denying the fact that Nazism was symbolized by terror and oppression. But it would be politically naive (and who doesnt know that good looking girls are politically naive!) to stereotype and represent Germany as land of concentration camp and romanticizing them.Fact is there are lots of concentration camps in the world even today. Consider a country called Sudan. Like other sub Saharan African countries its poor, starving millions has a totalitarian regime, is not in the good book of super powers for right and wrong reasons, is torn and ripped apart by bloody civil wars. Or for that matter consider Afghanistan or Iraq. Consider Somalia.Fact is, these are all living concentration camps, with thousands there dying every year a slow and painful death, of bombs and bullets, of starvation and maladies.Would the wife of my colleague and the girl I met ever want to visit Sudan? perhaps not, coz its not very romantic to actually witness thousands dying a slow and painful but sure death from oppression, terror, hunger, illness and poverty, not any degree less macabre than death in gas chambers. Inflicting pain is as natural a tendency as perhaps manifested in a child ripping apart the wings of a butterfly or making himself merry by putting a twig full of ants on fire. The point is, we should not single out any nation for cruelty and barbarism and mark it as a place to visit for the same. Barbarsim is the nature of the humankind and had been practised by most of the nations, at some point of time or the other on less fortunate or less powerful nations/races. But such tendencies also marked the beginning of downfall of all powers - as seen in case of Rome, as seen in case of British empire, Nazis, Stalinists and all other absolute powers who went berserk.