Every year in Germany, there are particular remembrances of WW II....like in mid-February where massive attacks upon heavy populated cities by the British and Americans, and the terrible aftermath of these attacks are blended with a political slant or two.
Hamburg and Dresden are two most popular events slated for each year. Here in mid-February.....comes Dresden reminders....with ceremonies and forums where intellectuals talk of the unfairness of these attacks upon civilians.
I would guess out of the 82-million population....less than 10-percent pay some attention to news segments. In Dresden, they will get thousands to show up at the memorial services, and it'll be hyped up for a week or two about the terrible event that unfolded in 1945.
Occasionally, they (the public-TV gurus in Germany) will find an American or Brit PhD type who will talk about the whole terrible thing and all the unnecessary deaths.
I watch these pieces for a few minutes....then kinda have this odd memory pop in my head....the German V-2 rocket attacks upon London in 1944 (1,300-odd missiles launched without much on targeting....other than hitting the city of London). Then I'll remember the Blitz period of 1940...lasting until the spring of 1941, with a minimum of 40,000 English dead by the end of the attacks.
Oddly, the German news media and intellectuals never bring up the V2 or Blitz attacks in the context of the Hamburg or Dresden remembrances. Selective amnesia? You might say that.
The thing is....the German population that might have some identification or care about this topic.....are mostly dying off. Most German teens of today....really don't care, or waste time with these type of remembrances. Life has moved on for them.
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