(2) Manipulating History #Nazis_vs_democracy

Quan mirem les pel·lícules de grecs, romans, vikings, i fins i tot cowboys & indians, sovint posem tots al mateix sac i no anem a pensar qui eren els bons, los de Troia o los del cavall. Però crec que si mirem l’historia més recent, l’historia que molta gent encara viva ha viscut en primer persona, potser si que podem esbrinar una mica més si n’hi havia de bons i dolents, o si tots eren iguals.

I si parlem de la Segona Guerra Mundial, per molts errors i/o desgracies que van cometre els aliats, no hi ha cap dubte qui eren els Bons i qui eren els Dolents. Qui volia exterminar “races” senceres de gent i conquistar mig món, i qui volia lluitar per la llibertat i la democracia.

Pos, resulta que Franco i els  seus feixistes espanyols no van prendre part directament a favor de Hitler i els Nazis, entre altres motius perque no tenien res a oferir després de 3 anys de desgast d’una guerra civil, i també per la presió i/o soborns internacionals. Però si que van anar uns voluntaris des d’Espanya per lluitar al costat de Hitler. Es deien la DivisionAzul.

Bé, suposo si esteu llegint això en català, ja podeu imaginar quin és el tema que ens ha portat a parlar d’això avui. L’homenatge que els va fer la Delegada del GovernEspanyol, Maria de los Llanos de Luna, fa unes setmanes. I que despres van tenir la barra de dir que era paregut a fer un homentage als voluntaris de la Brigada Internacional o ex-soldats que havien lluitat per la Republica, ja que tot formava part de l’historia. Pos, no, no és així. Encara falta molt de temps per a que frivolment podem considerar que no hi ha diferencia entre els Nazis i els que lliuten per la democracia.

La cançó, és la que hauria d'haver ficat en el post anterior ...

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When you watch historical films, or pseudo-historical films, it doesn’t really matter who the “goodies” are. Nothing better than watching Romans, Greeks, Spartans, Vikings etc attacking each other without worrying about who was in the right in such and such a war. However, I have the sneaky feeling that 20th century history – with survivors still around to tell their tales – deserves a more meticulous approach. It is quite important to remember who was in the right/wrong, if anyone was – as many 20th century events are very murky too. However, one sticks out in the mind as being a clear cut case of Black and White. World War Two. I hope everyone agrees that whatever dubious or tough tactical decisions the Allies took, they were in the right – fighting for freedom and democracy, against Hitler and the Nazis attempt to dominate half the world and wipe-out entire ethnic groups etc.

Franco received Hitler’s help in the Spanish Civil War, but by the time WW2 started, Spain was in such a mess that they were unable to return the support – plus international pressure and bribes also helped to keep them on the side-lines. However, they did organise groups of volunteers who did go to fight alongside Hitler. The so-called Blue Division.

Fast forward to now ---- just last month the Spanish government representative in Catalonia participated in a homage to ex-military members and paid specifichomage to ex-members of this Blue Division! When criticised, the government defended this deplorable action by comparing this to the homage paid to ex-members of the International Brigade or other soldiers who fought for the (democratically-elected) Republic. After all, it’s all history, isn’t it? Well, I beg to differ. Hopefully many centuries will pass before we can frivolously talk about Hitler and Nazism as if they were just one more unclear and not really significant historical event.

Today's song is the one I should really have added to the previous post - also on Spain's attitude to History and Democracy.