Image courtesy of CHRISTO DRUMMKOPF Flickr page - slaughterhouse-five: https://www.flickr.com/photos/cdrummbks/4549212237/in/photolist-7VZUiK-5nSVcf-9DvUAy-5eiYDT-og2GA-238HP5H-9DvY9N-2bfkF3i-QvhwCb-29StYgA-29StYnC-F36qqN-29StYx7-29StY1A-NSSu7R-NSSu6P-Qvhw7S-2bfkEGP-NSStWa-9DvTDm-9Dw32y-4aT85K-ESYQd-4Enc2m-F36nyL-29StXLN-29StYjw-NSStUB-29StYij-F36mkU-2bfkF6e-2cyC7ys-2bfkEBP-2bfkEYv-2cyC763-NSSu2R-2bfkEFg-2bfkEHR-r2i7W8
Kurt Vonnegut shook up the literary world with a strange, unorthodox book about time travel, and how our concepts and seeming understanding of time might just be completely wrong. It was also an anti-war novel, and much of it is based on Vonnegut's own experiences during the war that he fought in.
That war, of course, was World War II. Specifically, the war in Europe, and it should be noted here that Vonnegut was taken prisoner by the Germans, and that he was taken to Dresden for labor. At the time, in the final months of the war, Dresden was one of the few major German cities that had not been seriously damaged by Allied bombing campaigns, because it was an "open city." That is to say, it was a city with no military value.
So, while citizens of other cities would seek shelter and got used to waiting out bombing campaigns, the people of Dresden, according to Vonnegut, did not take the bombing warnings seriously. After all, the war was almost over, and Dresden has not been touched. The beauty of the city remained intact, and Vonnegut said that it resembled a "fairy tale" kind of a city.
All of that changed during one overnight in mid-February of 1945, about 12-13 weeks or so before Nazi Germany's final surrender. The noose was already seriously tightening by that point, and it was clear that the Nazis were losing the war on virtually every front by then. The Soviets had beaten the Germans back from the outskirts of Moscow and at Stalingrad, and had now pushed them back to well inside of the borders of the Reich itself, and they were quickly closing in on Germany's capital, Berlin. Many of the horrors of the concentration and death camps had been discovered when these camps were liberated. And in the west, the Allied landings the year before had quickly led to an advance to the other side of the Reich's borders. Mussolini's Fascist Italy had already fallen. Everywhere, Nazi Germany was on it's last legs, trying desperately for one last gasp.
But Dresden residents seemed almost separated from all of that. Their city was different, after all. There was no military value to the city, and so the locals had dismissed the sirens warning of a bombing campaign approaching. It seemed like that it would be another false alarm.
This time, however, it was not a false alarm. This time, the bombing was all too real, and Vonnegut was among numerous American GI's who were present in Dresden to live through the firebombing and the aftermath that destroyed the city. The fire burned so intensely that it sucked all of the oxygen out, and obviously, that killed a lot of people.
Again, this was no false warning this time around. Such an event was obviously unforgettable, and it haunted Vonnegut for many years. He could not speak of it, or even write about it for quite a while afterward. But then, with the publication of "Slaughterhouse-Five," Vonnegut finally broke his silence.
We should all be thankful for that.
In the article which I have linked below, we can get a rare treat. Noted author Salman Rushdie, who survived a serious attack earlier this year, discusses Kurt Vonnegut and his most famous work, his breakout novel “Slaughterhouse-Five.” Since this is what would have been Vonnegut's 100th birthday, it seemed worth sharing here today.
Enjoy!
What Kurt Vonnegut’s “Slaughterhouse-Five” Tells Us Now by Salman Rushdie, June 13, 2019:
https://www.newyorker.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment