For the last two weeks
the Australian multicultural TV station SBS
did screen "Dresden, the Inferno"
a movie that dramatises the destruction of the city
in February 1945, intertwines the actual happenings
with an unlikely love story between a German woman
and an English Bomber pilot who had escaped capture
by the Germans after being shot down during a previous raid.
Why bring this up on CTAlk?
Well, some of you may remember previous posts of mine
in regards to my coming to terms
with the German past 1933-45.
May this one be the last.
The effect, that movie had on me
feels like a break through
in keeping with our work.
Having been aware of a sense of shame and guilt
ever since the historical truth dawned on me
I was filled with a passion to 'make up' for
what my country people had done.
For a long time this 'making up'
consisted of nothing but feeling bad about being German
combined with a vague 'serves them right' attitude
in regards to the collective punishment Germans took.
Time certainly helped a bit to ease that attitude
yet it was the involvement with constellation work
and all the encounters that arose through it
-not in the least this very forum-
that made a difference.
Until watching the final episode of "Dresden" however,
there was still something between
me and the German past:
My inability to feel the pain of my people,
to grief with their anguish and loss.
I do feel all that now.
Max
Melbourne, Australia
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Max Dauskardt
max@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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