Please watch the following film (at least in part). This collection of footage shot at the end of World War II gives us a firsthand look at what Germany looked like at war's end. The footage is silent, however, can you get a sense of what is happening? What stands out to you? Post your thoughts and feelings in the comment section below!
Please watch the following newsreel on the Dumbarton Oaks Conference
Listen to Stravinsky Dumbarton Oaks Concerto
25 comments:
As I was reading "Hour Zero" I was haunted by the image of Anselm Kiefer's towers. The majority of Kiefer's work centers around the horrors of the Holocaust and Nazi Germany, and his towers eerily resonate with the description of destruction in "Hour Zero." It was very good to read about the occupation of Germany after the war. It is a shame that not much time is spent on the horrors after the war, as much time is spent on the atrocities during the war. I often feel that their is a big gap after wwii. Even though life continued, no one is interested in the rebuilding of countries and continents.
Here is a link to a video clip of Anselm Kiefer's towers: http://www.overyourcities.com/watchClips_1.html
@Megan thanks for the link, Anselm Kiefer is one of my favorite contemporary artists, but I'd never seen his towers. The work really is quite haunting and speaks to the look and feel of post-war Europe. Thanks for sharing!
The victory dancing stood out to me - I didn't expect to see dancing!!
My thought on our reading this week: I loved the page on Birch. It's encouraging to read that, in the midst of the war, God used this man to minister to others.
Thoughts on the reading: When I hear about wars, it's often about the soldiers and how brave they were or how many died. The Hour Zero piece really gave insight into just how devastating the war was for the common man in Europe, what with all the bombings and such. I never really gave much thought into that and, when I did, it was never about the magnitude of the devastation. 400 million cubic meters of rubble. Astounding.
It's so easy to just hate people. Today we tend to think of the Nazi's and Hitler as being racist and just so evil that they're not really human. We think of them as a different sort of people, when our country could be driven to do as much evil as they did. This film showed how the German people were people just like we are. In the film it showed couples, people with their dogs, and it showed individual people for a long time which allowed the viewer to understand that person's personality. Several of Germans reminded me of people I know, certain quirks or a smile or just the way they walked. It helped me think of the Nazis as real people.
The video made me think of some pictures I saw of Nazi soldiers during the war. They were pictures of German soldiers posing like silly, average high-school kids, just goofing off, and being normal, and like the videos, it just made me relate to them more. I think people like to blame someone or something for war, or other terrible circumstances, and it's to blame Germany and Nazis for many of the horrors in WWII, but thinking like that avoids a much larger problem (sin). Anyways, the video was just kind of an eye-opener for me, in terms of the blame-game we like to play.
The movies most interesting aspect to me was the jumping back and forth from the dejected Germans to the victorious Allies. Such an odd mix of sweet and sour. When watching the Germans I sympathized with them and thought of all the stories in the reading. But I could not help feeling the joy from the British and French.I have not watched many movies without words (or words that are in a different language) but when I do it makes me rely just on the "sub text," just on the facial expression. The maker of this movie chose an interesting way to show the outcome of the war.
Reading Hour Zero was really interesting because I never really thought about how terrible things in Germany were after the war. The part about 20 million people being homeless shocked me. Also I thought the part about how out of 20 babies born in the American sector of Berlin 20 of them died was really depressing. Anyway, I liked how the passage gave a different perspective of Germany than you usually hear when you study WWII.
The first video, "Kriegsende 1945," brought a mix of emotions for me. I suppose it might've been different if I had turned the sound off completely; the music that the uploader included gave the video a slightly drearier aspect, no matter what was going on. I didn't watch the entire thing, but the sad, slightly depressed feeling that it gave me might be proof of how dismal the war was.
The newsreel was intriguing to me, and nearly through the entire video, and especially at the one part where the viewer could see the fight between the planes/ships: who was behind the camera at that time? and I wonder how many cameramen they lost during the war. The Concerto seemed abnormally happy for the times, and to me it was just out of place.
Wow, yeah Sarah, that's an interesting thought about the cameramen! I never thought about how many cameramen died, and I wonder how many people besides soldiers lost their lives due to the war.
My Grandma went to Germany in 1950 and she said that it was a broken place, so I've heard her talk about it and when I read Hour Zero I was expecting to read a lot of tragic stuff. But going along kind of with what Jessica said reading the actual numbers of homeless or dead babies really made me realize how extreme it was.
It's so sad to see/think about how ruined the cities were. Like what if that was every major city in the US? It was also really sad to read about how all the Germans were blamed/punished for what the Nazis did, even if they had no part of it.
The 15 minutes of planes in the video stood out to me because they must have been somewhat significant, or they wouldn't have been filmed...so maybe those were the planes that the soldier were going home in? If so, that makes me happy(:
The music in the film added a very dramatic effect. I was not expecting to be very engaged by the footage, but I was surprised at the emotional level that that the music brought, which was only heightened by the effects of the war being shown.
Yeah I noticed that too corinne. I thought the music added a lot to the film.
The video was interesting, even if I didn't entirely understand what was going on. It looked like, at one point, the Germans were cheering on the Americans as they paraded on in. I guess that the resentment and despair hadn't set in yet. In fact, while Germany certainly looked desolate in the video, it didn't show the extent of the destruction of the article. Of course, the it would be awful to film all that tragedy, even if it did preserve the memory for a future generation.
Sorry to be responding so late ( I did it on Friday but i guess it did not work) I think that Marc was insightful to find "the blame game" in this movie. I think in some ways that the blame game is at root in many problems. In the Garden of Eden when God scolded Adam and Eve for eating of the apple, Adam blames eve and Eve blames the serpent. The blame game was one of the first sins to be committed. Humans (including myself) have played the game ever since.
Rob, going off of your comment, I remember from the inferno that when ever Dante heard the stories of the sinners being punished they always blamed their actions on someone or something else. I have heard/noticed that pride is at the root of most sins, and I believe that "the blame game" is no exception. We are sinful people and want to make ourselves "look good" therefore we always want to blame our follies on something/one.
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I loved the part of the video where it showed footage from London on V E Day. I can't even imagine what all was going through their minds. There was such excitement!
Wow, just WOW. As I was listening to the Stravinsky, the music(of course) began to speak to me. In the beginning, I heard the happiness and excitement of the American public to have the Big 4 and others visit America AND the fact that it meant the war was over. In the middle, the music crecendos and becomes deeper and lounder or in my mind, "more angry" In this part, Germany is enraged at the fact that they are being forced to pay repairations. Then the "happy" music from the beginning comes back, and the "angry" music continues, representing the feelings of the countries involved in the war, either they're happy, or their very VERY angry. While watching the News reel, I was moved at the loyalty of the soldiers who would carry their wounded commrades back to camp,even if it was a few miles away. It reminds me of our chorus...again. Our past 5 preformances, someone has passed out, and the singers have made an unspoken pact with one another that someone will catch them if they fall, no matter what. I feel that this represents a strong sense of community in the group, and at least for me(since I've been one of the people passing out) it gives me reassurance that the other singers behind me have got my back, literally!
@Ckersey
I agree, the music selection for the footage particularly grabbed my attention too. It remained very somber throughout, even when the Allies were rejoicing over the end of the war. The music itself provides a perspective. A most interesting point!
Watching this video and then listening to the musical piece by Stravinsky brought many emotions and thoughts to mind. How do you return home from major trauma and your home, city, and workplaces are destroyed? how could you go through life not hating how the Nazis destroyed anyone and everything? In the video, i saw so many people with a look of hopelessness on their face. But i was reading a book called, 'The Hiding Place' by corrie ten boom, and in it her sister as she was dying stated," You must let them know...you cannot be silent...we must remember." That really came to mind as i watched this. That these people were going to come back from this horror by the grace of God, and that we must not forget.
The "Year Zero" video was interesting. When the Allied tanks rolled in (or at least I believed them to be Allies), the German people cheered and seemed happy in a way, clearly not knowing that the next year would be the most difficult-for those who would survive, that is.
The Concerto by Stravinsky was really neat. It perfectly mirrored the sense of optimism that was present throughout the world of a brighter future in its playful, happy, and optimistic tone.Even the ending seemed to represent this, by sounding (to me anyways), slightly incomplete, insinuating that this is not the end of something horrific, but the beginning of something great.
One last thing I thought was interesting was when I read that Roosevelt attempted to assure the public that the UN would be the best way to avoid future wars. But, as we talked about in class, most of us probably can't remember a day where we weren't at war.
@Ian and CKersey, i couldn't agree with you more! The music really does add an emotional connection to it. I watched the "Year Zero" video with no music to see if I would have as strong an emotional connection, but I didn't seem to. The power of music is a very interesting thing!
I think it's interesting, in the footage, how happy everyone is that the war is over no matter what side they are on. While VE day was much more energetic in England than Germany, the Germans were still waving white flags and smiling. The music in this video sounded like Hans Zimmer's Why so Serious?. While it suited the film, I didn't care for it.
Ironically enough, My grand parents took me to hear Vivaldi's Four Seasons on Sunday and in the first half of the concert Dumbarton Oaks was played! I can't say I particularly cared for it. The piece is actually three movements (totaling to about 13 minutes total) and was written for the anniversary of Robert Bliss, a man who lived at Dumbarton Oaks for a time but had nothing to do with the Dumbarton Oaks conference.
The Hour Zero was interesting to contrast with the news reel. Hour Zero portrayed the Allies (especially the Russians) as treating the Germans poorly. I know that to some degree starvation and filth can't be helped after war, but these hardships were used to take advantage of the Germans. In the news reel however, the liberated peoples were treated quite well by the Americans. This may be because the Polynesians were not enemies, but the pictures of reconstruction in the Pacific and Europe were still so different that I can't help wondering why.
I watched a good portion of the footage in the WWII video this week. One of the first things that struck me was all the people. There were masses of people shown throughout the majority of the film: Americans, Brits, Frenchmen, and Germans alike. I felt like this gave good insight on the real universal effect a World War has (hence it's title). Another thing that caught my eye was all the German people lying around homeless. Some of them looked dead, but I couldn’t tell. Seeing some of the x-German troops walking barefoot in the cold really amazed me as well. It reminded me of how the soldiers in WWI book “All Quiet on the Western Front” highly valued boots. I also thought of how the SS forced some of the Jews to run barefoot through the snow for miles on end, as recorded in Elli Weasal’s “Night”. Was it simply just deserts? While I know the horrors that many of these Nazi soldiers probably inflicted, it's still sobering to see them in similar shoes (pun not intended) to that of their victims.
Excerpt from my journal on Hour Zero and the Newsreel:
I find it interesting that several of the former Nazis had it the best after the war (due to monetary wealth). If the Germans are inevitably going to suffer, justice would seemingly demand that the Nazis, who were to blame, should not have had it better then the innocent German civilians. In my mind, the obvious connection between Hour Zero and the Dumbarton Oaks newsreel is the Allies’ conference in Dumbarton Oaks. Sir Alexander of England says that the German people must receive “just retribution.”
I really liked listening to Stravinsky's Dumbarton Oaks Concerto! It kind of reminded me of music from a Star Wars movie or something.
the Newsreel was really cool to! I love watching stuff like that.
And as I watched different sections of movie I really agree with Sarah that the music made everything about it very bleak and depressing. But also I thought it was almost suspenseful! I was at times tense because I thought something was gonna jump out at me!
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