IN LOVING MEMORY

 

 

It is with great sadness that I must announce the passing of my

Father-In-Law,

Mr. Louis Morin on July 15, 2007

Mr. Morin was 95 years old and was witness to the most tumultuous periods of the 20th Century.

WWI and WWII

 

The following entry is a reposting in his honor, recounting his years as a witness to history.

LOUIS MORIN

1912 – 2007

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The Ghosts of War

Bretagne, France

 

"There is nothing more chilling than to walk amongst the ghosts of the past."

 

 

When I started writing this blog nearly 2 years ago, I did so with the desire to seek new cultures and new customs through the eyes of an inexperienced traveler, while moving forward into my new life, and to share those experiences with you.

 

However, since my arrival in France, I have learned that in order to look forward to the future, it is important to look to the past. The mistakes of our forefathers are numerous, and unfortunately, we have been destined to follow in their footsteps.

 

Upon arriving in Europe, I began searching through international message boards (online) hoping to find information on living abroad, but what I found there was disturbing beyond belief. The level of hateful and intolerant nationalism, and racism I discovered was something I had never really experienced "FIRSTHAND" even though I had worked in Human Rights Education for more than 6 years, teaching the history of war and the effects of hatred. What disturbed me the most……….is that it was coming from my own countryman.

 

Please don’t misunderstand dear reader, as I am sure I will receive many negative comments, I am a PROUD AMERICAN and I believe in the Freedom of Speech, but most of the postings I found were just ill-informed rantings.

Many were downright childish, like renaming "FRENCH FRIES" to "FREEDOM FRIES." Other comments were outright bigotry and hatred of cultures these people obviously knew nothing about, with comments like: "All French are ass-f***king faggots (Usually mispelled "fagits")," "All Ni**ers are uneducated, violent criminals," "All Muslims are terrorists, and the Middle East should be NUKED" as well as numerous references to the "Dirty Jews."  These dear reader are just the mild comments. I would be censored by the editors of MSN if I were to publish the other comments I found.

 

I became fearful that this was the beginning of a new era of intolerance that would once again lead us down the path of destruction.

 

I had to ask myself, and now I am asking you:

 

"HAVE WE FORGOTTEN THE LESSONS OF THE PAST?"

 

With all of this in mind, I took a trip with Michel to see his parents in Bretagne (Brittany), France. What I found there affected me more than I could have ever imagined.

 

Michel’s parents, Louis and Josephine (pictured above), are delightful people. "Josephine" is 90 years old and is from a line of nobility that descends from the time of Napoleon (hence the name Josephine). She is a lovely woman with a sharp wit and a strong character. I found her to be warm and giving, as well as opinionated. But, at 90 years of age, she has earned that right. The world she grew up in was a very different place from the world we live in today.

 

‘Louis" was a treasure. At ninety-five years old, he was energetic and alert. What I found most interesting about Louis was the history he had witnessed, and that he generously chose to share it with me.

 

Born in 1912, he grew up in Bretagne, and by 1914 he had watched as the world descended into the darkest period mankind had ever known. He watched as neighbors and friends died at the hands of the invading German forces, as they took over the land of his birth and dragged the world to the depths of hell never before imagined. However, even after the horrors he had witnessed, he was warm and loving beyond explanation.

 

World War I ended in 1918, with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. I have walked the halls of that historic palace, and stood on the very spot where one of the worst wars man has ever known came to an end (I recommend a trip to Versailles to everyone). It was the "WAR TO END ALL WARS" ………or so they believed.

But, the ghosts of man’s past are easily forgotten. Less than a generation later, the world would once again stand on the precipice of hell. Descending further than man has ever known.

 

Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Regime came to power in 1933, and by 1940 had taken control over most of Europe by threat and intimidation, promising to wage a war on a scale never before seen. For a battle weary Europe, the thought of another war was incomprehensible.

 

Most of Europe fell to Nazi control without much of a struggle. Countries like France and Poland appeared to be weak and unable to defend themselves. But, it was people like Louis who were the true heroes of the war.

 

At the beginning of World War II, with the memory of THE GREAT WAR still fresh in his mind, Louis and many others joined the Underground (French) Resisitance movement. He was living behind enemy lines, working to free his country from a terror never known to mankind. Through sabotage and espionage, they were able to strike a terrible blow to the Nazi War Machine with the help of the Jewish Resistance, and the Communist Resistance, which led to the ultimate invasion by the Allied Forces of America, Great Britain, Russia, Canada, Australia, Czechoslovakia, Greece, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Belgium and yes, France. Without the help of the resistance movements, "The Allied Forces" might have failed in their attempt to liberate Europe.

 

French resistance groups known as the "Maquis" operated in the rural mountainous regions of Brittany and southern France, harassing Vichy France Milice and German occupation troops.

 

The Maquis aided the escape of downed Allied airmen, Jews and others pursued by the Vichy and German Authorities.

The resistance movements successfully destroyed water towers, and telephone lines, as well as roads and railways, all in preperation of the Allied invasion. Captured Maquis faced torture, being shot, or being deported to Nazi concentration camps, where very few survived.

 

During the Allied invasion, the Maquis and other groups played a major role in delaying the German mobilisation. As the Allies advanced, the French Resistance rose against the Nazi occupation forces and their garrisons. Some Maquis groups took no prisoners and German soldiers often preferred to surrender to Allied soldiers rather than face the wrath of the Maquis.

 

I hate to admit it, but unfortunately, more than a few young Americans (and some not so young) are under the impression that the United States liberated Europe all by itself. This has led to a belief by some, that America is "SUPERIOR" to all other nations.

It was that kind of thinking in Germany that led us into two World Wars. The Nazis believed they were a race of super-humans destined to rule the world, by force if necessary. This thinking is not unlike many of the postings I’ve read, which have been written by Americans. 

 

Again, I am a proud American and these postings made me angry that we were being portrayed in this way. So, I felt I needed to answer these postings in an educated and creative way.

 

HOW HAVE SO MANY COME TO THIS KIND OF THINKING?

 

It is a sad testament to the education of our youth that they have been taught to believe they are SUPERIOR to all other nations, when they themselves are the descendants of those very nations.

 

Everyone in America, with the exception of Native Americans (this is a subject for another article), came from somewhere else. Therefore, when we preach hatred for the people of Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Israel, etc.  we really hate ourselves, because they are us, and we are them. One Planet……..One World……..One People.

 

I apologize dear reader for climbing onto my soap-box. But, after meeting Louis and hearing his perspective about the war as a behind the lines veteran, and with what I have read in these postings, and as an educator of WWII history, and after seeing the monuments to our violent past, I can come to only one conclusion……that, "Somewhere in the middle, lies the truth."

 

Since I have found myself in the very place where so much of World War I and World War II were fought, I went on a trip through history. Michel took me to the beaches of Bretagne where the Nazis built countless bunkers and gun turrets during the occupation of France. It was a chilling experience to walk amongst the rubble of the past, and to feel the desolation that war can bring.

 

The people of this beautiful countryside still remember the horrors brought by war, and the horrible mistakes that were made. It is a history that haunts them everyday.

 

 

People want to point fingers and say: ‘They did this!" or ‘They did that!"

The truth is, we are all guilty of these crimes and until we "as a world" are able to admit these mistakes, we are destined to repeat them.

 

The short video essay currently on this site, was shot when Michel and I explored the ruins of a Nazi stronghold on the shores of Bretagne, France on Christmas Eve, 2005. It is a chilling reminder of the costs of waging war.

 

Rest In Peace Dear Louis

Your Legacy is not Forgotten