soc.history.war.world-war-ii

On Aug 30, 12:24 pm, " " wrote:

> First of all, when my mother struggled (with me in tow) to get to
> Dresden in 1946, she did so to find a missing great aunt and her
> husband. We then learned from surviving neighbors that the old
> couple had starved to death in their half-destroyed suburban home
> during the period after the bombing. Secondly, your comment shows
> that you have no idea what was going on and what it was like.
> Nothing personal, but this sounds like something coming from a smug
> bureaucrat who doesn't have a conception of chaos.

People do have a pretty good idea of the suffering on the ground, even
in distant countries.

The book in the Time-Life series, "Aftermath" goes into the immediate
postwar suffering in great detail. A great many people throughout
Europe were suffering from hunger and homelessness. There was
inadequate labor to grow food, inadequate land due to battle ruin and
leftover munitions, and inadequate transport to bring the food to the
cities.

But once again, Germany started a war of aggression and was defeated.
Germany didn't have to start the war and it could've always
surrendered earlier. Germany didn't have to treat its conquered so
horribly.

So basically when someone says Germany (or Japan or any other Axis
power) complains about postwar treatment and conditions, the answer
remains "they brought it onto themselves".