Backtracking a little, again from my UNC journal (May 23-24, 1981):
From a height in between we viewed Gold and Juno Beaches and the Mulberry Harbor. Here we took team photos. Proceeded to St. Aubin on Sword Beach, where the British 3rd Division landed, to the hotel. A German antitank gun stood trained on our hotel. [Map above from Official History of the Canadian Army in the Second World War, Volume III, 1966]
What a bizarre supper! The food and wine was great, but the conversation one in a million. Andrea Jennings was talking about the Kinks, which reminded me of the album they put out in 1968 about the decline and fall of the British Empire. . .
In the dining area happened to be five Germans, veterans of Normandy captured on June 6, 1944, by Canadian troops. Four of them agreed to talk with the group, but Helmet left. All are in their 60s and 70s, and all were older than the average fighting man even in the 1940s, when they served in the 716th [Static] Infantry Division. They were here for Memorial Day services.
[The 716th Static Infantry Division, commanded by Generalleutnant Wilhelm Richter, was essentially destroyed on D-Day, though it was later reformed. On D-Day, it consisted of Grenadier Regiments 726 and 736, Artillerie Regiment 716, Panzerjäger Kompanie 716, Pionier Bataillon 716, Nachrichten Abteilung 716, and Versorgungstruppen 716.]
They talked about the second-rate quality of their division, how the Eastern Front was given priority over the Atlantic Wall, and so forth. I sat with fascination as they told their side of the story . . . From their point of view, survival came first. Germany in the 1920s and 30s was down in the gutter, spat on by France and England. Harnessing his people’s basic self-pride and basic needs, Hitler created a phoenix-like . . . powerful world state. Only when he became brazenly exploitive did many of the people realize that he might bring their own downfall. . .
The other major topic was their lives as POWs behind the Allied lines. Processed through Scotland, they were scattered across the U.S., serving as laborers in South Carolina, Colorado, New Jersey, and Alabama.
It was compelling to hear from the other side! Dr. Stroup then gave long-winded praise to the Germans and appealed for peace. After the song contest out on the beach a few of us (Rachel, Bink, Chris, Bill and I) talked with our new German friends in the hotel bar. We knew a little German, they knew a lot of broken English, so we managed to communicate semi-articulately about things. Chris, Bill, and I bought them a round of Kronenbourg 1664s, a gesture that seemed to honor and embarrass them. They bought the next round, and, added to the dinner wine, we were all soon nappy. The bartender looked on this with amusement, pretending not to understand anything we said.
Willy Wiederstein and Karl started up old drinking songs, and soon we were all singing: “In Munchen Stadt im Hofbrauhaus, Ein, Zwei, Zufall!!!!!”
Those kindly old gentlemen could drink like fish, but luckily they drifted off for the night, one by one. . .
May 24, 1981, Sunday
Memorial services at Omaha Beach were very beautiful, even if the speeches were drawn out and irrelevant. The most memorable event came when a group of French children ran out, French and U.S. flags in hand, and sang the national anthems. Some of our group were brought to tears by this gesture. The trim white rows of graves were serenely powerful. . .
Today's Rune: Warrior.
6 comments:
The American war dead buried in lands fought for, not their own, in order to assure the freedom of the people of those lands is always a thoughtful place to be.
That former enemies can find some commonality in the peace is one of the few reasons for all of the grave markers.
It's over, and yet we still go to war.
But the drinking songs.
In Munchen Stadt im Hofbrauhaus, Ein, Zwei, Zufall!!!!!”
In the Royal Canadian Air force we had a take on that song when ourselves drunk:
"You drink so much you p8ss me off
Ein, zwei, Sopha!
War is a horrible thing. And for a moment I was so confused. I thought you meant you were in Canada...just had to wiki Normandy.
Like I've always said, Hitler was good for Germany at first. And please, folks, don't call me a Nazi. I don't condone what Hitler did. I'm just saying that initially, given the condition of Germany, the people had reason to support him and didn't know about the underlying evil of the man.
Ah Eric, educating me once again...
Great post, as always!
I think it was that noted philosopher Jimmy Buffett who pointed out that there's always three sides of the story-- his, hers, and the cold hard truth. History is much the same way-- rarely black or white, but shades of grey.
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