January 26th, 2008 – Erich Kaestner, the last German WW1 veteran died today at the age of 107. This is not necessarily news considering that life expectancy for a German man living in 2008 is 76 years of age (CIA World Factbook). The outstanding factor in this bit of trivia is that his death, and his career, almost went unnoticed by the German people. It is a governmental policy in the German Bundestag that no records are to be kept about the veterans of past wars. I understand to a point their willful denial of the past yet I can’t help but hypothesize that the national recognition of their veterans would be a good (and necessary) thing.In 2007, the United-States ‘celebrated’ the death of a WW1 veteran, one of three remaining. That same year, France observed a day of remembrance for the death of the second to last WW1 veteran they had. These events seem to bring people together in a collective effort to construct a national memory. Veterans are citizens who fought in wars that shaped the contemporary world. It is only natural that we integrate them into our heritage, no matter if it be for reasons of honour or notoriety. Some Germans of the new generation (ones born after WW2) feel the same way.
A major national newspaper, Der Spiegel, stated "The German public was within a hair's breadth of never learning of the end of an era,". Another, Die Welt, was more abrupt by denouncing that "The losers hide themselves in a state of self-pity and self denial that they happily try to mitigate by forgetting." (BBC News Service) Perhaps Die Welt (The World) is right, this national ignorance policy may have had a goal when Germany was still trying to prevent a new rise of fascist, communist or generally ultranationalist sentiment yet today, it simply makes fools of the German people. I would bet money that if they revoke the policy, there won’t be a slew of Germans asking ‘I’ve never heard of this Adolf fella, he did WHAT!?’
Mr. Kaestner fought in WW1 and was a Luftwaffe pilot in WW2. He continued on to become a county judge and was awarded many honours for his work. My point is: he was simply a man. More importantly, he was a soldier. His job was to pick up a gun and shoot at the French or pilot his plane and shoot down the British. He did not elaborate sterilization policy regarding the handicapped, he did not send the einsatzgruppen to murder hundreds of thousands of Slavic and Jewish people in southern Poland and he certainly did not personally prepare Hitler’s meals three times a day for 12 years (whilst forgetting to add arsenic). He may have been a tool of evil designs yet I will not blame the hammer when I hit myself on the thumb. I made a choice to use the hammer, I chose what, when and where I was going to use it and I wasn’t careful when I applied it. The German people chose the Nazi party to lead them, it had consequences, and they have to live with it.
In closing, Erich Kaestner has died. For Germany, their defeat in WW1 is now officially only a national memory, whether they want it or not.
(Pictured: German Kaiser Wilhelm II, blamed for WW1 and a boaster of funky mustaches - Erich Kaestner 1900-2008 )
End.
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