Celebrating the Second World War

Since we're already starting to celebrate D-Day here over Memorial Day weekend with the dedication of the World War II memorial in Washington, I thought I would talk about some issues relating to it.

Back in 1995, as the 50th anniversary observances of the war were under way, I came across this column in the paper about the memory of the Second World War: When Will WWII Finally End? by Howard Kleinberg San Francisco Chronicle 02/21/95.  It struck me as oddly cynical, basically whining about "revisionism" and seemingly about the whole process of remembering the war.  As in these closing paragraphs:

The men and women who fought that war are nearing the completion of their life's cycle. Most or all of those who directed the war on either side are gone. What remains is a coterie of persons, most born after the war, poking through old documents and new theories that would alter our impressions of what and who were Good and Evil.

On September 2, the last event of World War II, Japan's formal surrender, will be observed. Will the passage put an end to the revisionism and suspicions of motives and events of the past?

I would hope so. But I think not.

In those pre-blogging days, I sent the following letter to the editor by good old snail-mail:

Dear Editor:

I found myself sympathizing with Howard Kleinberg's feeling on remembering World War II while disagreeing with the point of his column.  As someone born nine years after the war's end, I also regret that the spirit and ideals of America's participation in that war are often obscured by "revisionist" arguments and Cold War cynicism.  On the other hand, I recognize that the World War II experience shaped American attitudes toward our country's role in the world like no other event.  Since the old certainties of the Cold War have collapsed, both policymakers and the public would benefit more than ever from a better familiarity with the experiences of the Second World War, its prelude and its aftermath.

To take just one example: Germany and the Czech Republic have held discussions recently on compensation for the ethnic Germans that postwar Czechoslovakia expelled from the "Sudetenland."  Why were these people expelled?  Is it a sign of German "revanchism" that these talks are taking place?  Does this have broader implications for post-Cold War Europe?  One would have to have some knowledge of the events surrounding World War II to make any sense of this situation.

We can honor those Americans who served their country during the war without pretending they were all plaster saints.  And we can recognize the fundamental justice and necessity of America's participation without defending every action our government or our allies took in pursuit of our war aims.  The internment of Japanese-Americans suring the war was just plain wrong, as Congress officially recognized in 1967.  But the itnernment did not define American wartime ideals, it contradicted them - as I'm sure the many Japanese-American soldiers who fought and died for the US in that war recognized.

I'm afraid that Kleinberg's column may unintentionally contribute to the very disregard for the ideals and lessons of the war about which he complains.  All "revisionisms" are not equal.  The Holocaust deniers are dishonest extremists with an anti-democracy agenda.  But there are practical and moral questions raised by the war that cannot be ignored by policymakers, and connot be understood by history that merely celebrates the past.

The US Strategic Bombing Survey immediately after the war, for instance, found that the bombing of German cities did not suppress armaments production nearly as much as hoped, and that the attacks seemed to have stiffened civilian resolve rather than weakened it.  What role did Japanese offers of surrender, fear of the Russians, or racial prejudice play in the decision to bomb Hiroshima and Nagasaki?  Should the Allies have bombed Auschwitz?  How should revelations of Soviet or Anglo-American war crimes affect our attitude toward war crimes in the Balkans or Rwanda today?

These are all tough questions, and all issues that can be misused by ideologues.  But, if we take World War II and its lessons seriously, they are also unavoidable.  I would hate to see serious thought about the war become confined to specialists while the public discussion is left to cynicism and sensationalism on the one hand and thoughtless celebration on the other.

(Original letter dated 02/22/95)