Lessons from history

VE Day, as the anniversary of ‘Victory in Europe’ is called is being commemorated. Coincidentally I’ve been reading some stuff my father wrote about his wartime experience. War appeared a very quotidian thing, enlivened occasionally by being shot at. Interviews on the Beeb have included Jonathan Dimbleby reminiscing about his father Richard’s war commentaries, not least from Belsen. But oopps! How did this get past the censors? Jonathan expressed to me what sounded like some surprise when he noted that in Monday’s VE parade in London there was a Ukrainian contingent. He reminded us that Ukrainians had allied themselves against the Allies in the war. That’s a bit embarrassing isn’t it? Should we wonder about Putin’s suggestion that he doesn’t like Ukrainian Nazis as Russia itself comes up to ‘Victory Day’ - celebrating a victory that is, which took tens of millions of lives (many of which I am sure could have been avoided if Stalin was not such an idiot)? Meanwhile, over in Gaza, what’s left of it is promised a new cleansing by the Lebensraum policy of Israel’s Nazi-in-Chief Bibi. Are we still not permitted to compare his government to Nazis? Isn’t his government not of the western, democratic mould? What exactly is VE Day all about?