Wars

Yesterday, I spent a great deal of time (over 3 hours) in Caen Memorial (Cite de l'histoire contemporaine) across the street. It has visitors everyday and is one of the only places around that is open 7 days a week without a day off (save holidays). We have out classes there as there is a great reference library on the 20th century and meetings rooms that one can use with film-viewing facilities. It has been great to go there each day, I toured the special exhibit at the beginning of our stay here in Caen called Survivre and tells the tales of children in the Holocaust. It is an extensive exhibit that chronicles the children before, during, and after the Holocaust (known in France as La Shoah). It was a pretty sobering exhibit but fascinating to see the lengths to which we go as a society to repress one another, children included. I spent about 2 hours there so I guess you could say that these museums are pretty packed.

I visited the main part of the museum on Saturday that chronicles World War II. They do a great job in preparing the scene, talking about what led up to the war and the reasons why. As you go through this spiraled hall, you descend into the war both figuratively and literally. As you walk through the exhibits, you are able to see the good, the bad, and the ugly. It features Vichy and its regime, the Jewish question and Final solution, the war and D-Day, and the Resistance. Amazing to go through all of this information. At the end of the exhibit, a film is shown to help understand D-Day created with actual footage from the "debarquement" and truly shows the horror that these men met head on. The film was a sobering reminder of the simple carnage of human life during this endeavor.

I was also able to go to another film after that called Esperance (Hope). This film with very few words went through the conflicts of the 20th century. World War II, the Cold War, Easterb bloc invasions, Afghanistan and the russians, famine in Africa, poverty in Latin and south America, Cuban Missile Crisis, Berlin Wall and much more. The film is a montage of everything and it concludes in an impressive way, Dr. Martin Luther King making his speech at the Lincoln Memorial and the suggestion that the only thing we really have to hold onto throughout these conflicts is HOPE!

With that in mind, I realized an important aspect of the French the other day. I have been exploring the concepts of World War II and the dark years of occupation and liberation. The French experienced tremendous loss. Just during the 100 days of liberation (D-Day invasion and beyond), there were hundreds of thousands of civilian casualties not counting the military. Caen, alone, was annihilated with eighty percent of the city destroyed. Save for Pearl Harbor and September 11, American really have not had to experience a level of destruction on such a large scale. Even with those 2 events, I do not think we really can understand what it is like as the major western European nations did in the two World Wars. With this thought in mind, I began to connect some political issues. George W. Bush (you all know how much I love him!) vilified the French for not supporting the war in Iraq and not joining the "coalition" of nations. Many went as far as changing names of foods (Freedom Fries and Freedom Toast) and boycotting the French foods that many of us appreciate. Years later, I think the French do not really regret their decision as we are mired in conflict on two fronts. Seeing photos of the destruction that France experienced, I understand their mindset with regards to war. Not quick to rush into war would have been an interesting lesson for us to learn. Are we truly living in a safer world because we committed ourselves to war? I think you all know my response to that question. Just an interesting reflection during my experience here in Caen.