World War-II is the single most destructive conflict in recorded human history. In terms of human loss, it counts more than all other previous wars of world put together. No other event in the past has influenced the course of human history as much as this did. As the war ended, there was hardly any country in the world which was either directly or indirectly not affected by it. Every field of human activity- politics, society, science, technology, warfare and even painting and literature – underwent momentous changes because of it.
The war started with a German cavalry charge on the borders of Poland just like any other ancient war but ended with the devastating exhibition of the most modern weapon known to mankind-The nuclear bomb. The war started as a limited European conflict but ended encompassing the entire planet’s continents and all its oceans. From the cold steppes of Russia to the burning deserts of Africa, from the impenetrable jungles of Indonesia to the desolate islands of Okinawa – it caused destruction of lives and property never seen before in human history.
But apart from the victory and defeat which are normal part of any war in history, this war exposed the weakness of human nature and the beast like cruelty it is capable of - in the name of nationalism. It showed that man can not only create factories for industry but also build industries for death in the form of concentration camps. Designed by engineers, architects and scientists, these murder mills were progammed to deliver death to their unsuspecting victims-six million in all- with unprecedented efficiency. Those who were led through the gates of these death-factories were not people of war but simple innocent men , women and children , who happened to be having a particular religion not liked by their executioners! Deception ran in concentration camps right from the start –The entry gates had euphemistic German slogans like “Arbeit Macht Frei” (Woks make you free) , flower gardens lined up the path leading to gas chambers which in turn were masquerading as community shower rooms. As frightened naked men women and children huddled for a supposedly disinfecting bath, lethal Zyklon-B tablets rained from hidden roof vents snuffing the lives out of their bodies in a matter of minutes. As the tablets evaporated and rose upwards, small kids fell first , some even clutching their toys up to the last moment, and then the adults fell on top of them in heaps. When the shrieks gradually stopped , it was time to feed one more batch of processed dead bodies to the burning ovens of the creamatoria to churn out the finished products - the ashes of innocent human beings and hairs of Jew women - to be used as fertilizers for German agriculture and mattresses for Nazi soldiers. Even as the war was drawing to an end, these murder mills remained surprisingly active, turning out their daily quota of dead bodies at furious pace. At the end six million of civilian Jews had vanished into the sky – through the chimneys of Auswitchz, Treblinka , Bergen-Belsen and countless other concentration camps !
What do all these teach us? The potential of hatred? The absence of a God supposed to rescue his creation from periodic chaos and turmoil? Or the real picture of the animal that hides within all of under a veneer of civilization - ready to emerge at the slightest outbreak of insanity ?
In his groundbreaking BBC television series “Ascent of Man” , standing in front of a pond in Aushwitz (the largest concentration camp) into which ashes of two million bodies had been flushed, Jacob Brownski, the British Mathematician and Biologist tries to drive the same message. Elie Wisel, the nobel peace prize winning author, echoes the same feeling in his book “Night”.
But as a human conflict, WW-II was unique- a war of sharp contrasts and grand contradictions. The war saw crushing victories of dictatorship over democracy at the beginning and its dramatic reversal at the end. It shook the faith of mankind in the virtue of democratic way of life for a short duration as Hitler and Mussolini notched victories after victories and appeared nearly invincible but made us finally believe that democracy is the only surviving kits for mankind. Before the war, Germany was the epicenter of European learning where the fire of knowledge raged in its institution and universities. And it was the same Germany, the land of Beethoven and Goethe which, within few years , witnessed huge bon-fire of books on its city streets. During this period Germany drove the world’s greatest ever scientific genius, Albert Einstein, to America and surrendered to the greatest evil genius of history, Adolf Hitler - the vegetarian , non-smoking, non-drinking ordinary soldier of WW-I who disapproved killing of animals , led a simple life and slept on a hard bunk with his mother’s photo by the bed side. It is amazing to think that Hitler, the ultimate dictator had been a product of a genuine German democratic process.
Well , the contrasts do not end there.
In the years leading to war , like a magician, he made Germans believe the unbelievable – That the Jews, a race that has given the largest number of Nobel Winners in history- is actually a race of morons! And those who have broad shoulders and high cheekbone –The Aryans - are destined to rule the world forever. Throughout the six years of war, he possessed the German soul like none before – making the average German see things that never existed and believe in victory when defeat stared . Even the Swastika sign which Hitler chose for the Nazi flag and which signified fear, terror and often death, is actually taken from ancient Hindu mythology that symbolizes peace, luck and well being to its bearer. Such was the devastation let loose by its bearers that even today, the symbol continues to be dreaded in the West . Yet in the east and far east, the followers of three world religions, Hinduism, Budhhism and Jainism, bear it adoringly everywhere- from tattoos on their shoulders to designs on daily apparel.
The war quickly made Hitler the winner - the master of Europe with an empire larger than that possessed by Alexander or Napoleon . But it was the same winner who drove his nation to its tragic denouement. The thousand year rule of third Reich that he had promised to German people did not last even for 12 years, leaving on its wake, a trail of death and destruction everywhere in Europe.
Seventy years after the event, if you can identify a single non-religious personality that is recognizable in every country or society on earth as the symbol of totalitarianism, it will undoubtedly be Hitler. As a recent historian put it, he was perhaps Satan’s best answer to God! No wonder, when Times choose, Einstein as the Person of the Century , they had to offer an exclusive explanation as to why the choice was not Hitler ! (Person of Century is not about whether a person is good or bad but about having maxim influence on the events of the period under consideartion) .
The war was not without certain positive fallouts. Great scientific and technological advancements took place during the war. The jet planes that we see today, the ubiquitous computers, the security of internet commerce, the space suit that Neil Armstrong wore to moon, the antibiotic we take to fight against germs and the cruise missiles of modern warfare – all owe their origins to the developments made during this period. As the war came to an end, the world saw the emergence of two new superpowers – America and Soviet Russia - and the extinction of a previous super power – the British on whose empire, it was said that “sun never sets”. Unable to maintain distant colonies with a war ravaged economy and relegated to a lower status in the global power hierarchy in the new world order , the great imperial British gradually retreated from Asia and Africa resulting in unexpected freedom for many countries like, perhaps, India ! While it’s end brought peace , it also started the beginning of a new confrontation - between two new superpowers and their two contending economic ideas-Capitalism and Socialism. Before the light of new found peace bathed an exhausted world, it got divided into two hostile blocks and the shadow of Cold War lengthened across every nation heralding the deadly age of nuclear arms competition and possible annihilation of the entire human race.
Why is this period so important? Practically any scientific or technological feat that we see today, every hue of political or economic philosophy we come across , has some trace in this tumultuous period of human history. Therefore to understand these things, appreciate them in right perspective and above all to prevent this chapter of history from repeating itself, a proper knowledge of this period is a must for every one.
"That is why, my son, you should bother about this period in History ", I told Shreyans!
it is intriguing to decipher how a reason, so strong could evolve, so as to instill such hatred and brutality in the minds of sane humans. An elaborate and clearly sought after article. I wonder if we may ever possess the capacity to induce such intensity of emotions which can lead to inventions such as nuclear missiles. I yearn to believe why Hitler ever became a Hitler. looking forward to more of your blogs.
ReplyDeleteVarun
MHRM (2009-11)
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