The faces of tragedy

One death is a tragedy. Thousands of deaths are a statistic.

The callous dismissal of human life is often attributed to Josef Stalin. But in some circles it is believed that Stalin quoted from a novel by the German journalist, satirist and pacifist Kurt Tucholsky. A fictional diplomat says: “The war? I don’t mind that much! The death of one man: this is a catastrophe. Hundreds of thousands of deaths: that’s a statistic!”

At this time of year, with Remembrance Day approaching, we are obliged to honor the fallen and victims as we try to understand the immeasurable toll of the conflict.

Kurt Tucholsky (1890-1935), who was Jewish, had warned about the anti-democratic movement in Germany in the 1930s. His worst fears were confirmed when the Nazis came to power in 1933. His works were banned and burned. He would later commit suicide.

The callous disregard for humanity shown by Tuckholsky’s character is regularly reflected in real-life wars. It’s much easier to attack enemies when they’re faceless, dehumanized, and lumped together as a monolithic threat. War veterans have said that landing on a mine-filled beach was bad enough; The hand-to-hand combat still gave them nightmares, decades after they returned home from the front.

It’s a dangerous and angry world out there. But there are some human, individual stories that can touch even the coldest of hearts.

Over the decades, certain special moments have resonated with the masses.

There have been several versions of the Thousand-Yard Stare, the image of a bloodied, stunned soldier looking into space, a vacant, vacant look on his face, the face of a survivor who has been through hell.

The photo of the “Napalm Girl” shocked the world in 1972 and became a defining image of the Vietnam War. A naked and badly burned nine-year-old girl, later identified as Phan Thi Kim Phuc, escaped a napalm attack, amid a smoke-filled scene of chaos and death. The photo reflected the widespread and indiscriminate destruction that claimed an estimated one million civilians. She would later recover and become an advocate for peace.

America knew it had lost the war in Vietnam when Walter Cronkite released his report in 1968. The most trusted man in the United States of America, the host of CBS Evening News, concluded that the war was at a stalemate, prompting President Lyndon Johnson to say: “If I lose Cronkite, I lose Central America. ‘

During the “Living Room War,” the world witnessed unfiltered TV news reports of terrified GIs hiding during the Tet Offensive. Images of the young soldiers praying to go home further undermined support for the war at home.

Alan Kurdi was three years old when the Syrian boy and his family fled the country, planning to join relatives in Canada. Early on September 2, 2015, the family boarded a small inflatable boat in Turkey, bound for Greece. A few minutes later the dinghy capsized. Alan, his brother and his mother all drowned. A Turkish news photographer started photographing the ‘children’s cemetery’. Alan’s tiny body washed up on the shore, half in the sand, half in the water. His sneakers were still on his feet. He became the symbol of the countless desperate souls who died seeking refuge in the West.

Testimonies from victims of ancient conflicts are now accessible through online sources.

For example, in recent years there have been concerted efforts to safeguard the accounts of Holocaust survivors. The page intheirownwords.net/canadian-survivors is a collection of some 1,200 testimonies, presenting the horrors of war from different lenses: resistance, Kristallnacht, deportation, camps, rescuers.

About 40,000 Holocaust survivors settled across the country after the war.

There are no surviving veterans of the First World War of 1914-1918, but you can still hear their stories firsthand. Visit veterans.gc.ca/en/remembrance/people-and-stories/heroes-remember

The database provides insight into the experiences of the many ordinary Canadians who have answered the call to serve in uniform over the years.

Video interviews recall the brutality and madness of trench warfare.

Soldiers remember their first gas attack. They had no masks; they covered their faces with wet handkerchiefs; many succumbed on the spot.

At Passchendaele a battalion of 700 men went; 75 returned. Men died when they fell into a shell hole and drowned. Horses were stuck in the mud. Freezing soldiers, after surviving gas and artillery bombardments, broke ice in a ditch so they could shave. The troops cursed the officers who had forced them to go over the top under such terrible conditions.

The ranks of World War II veterans are thinning. However, there are still many Canadians who have served in more contemporary conflicts such as Korea, the Gulf War, Afghanistan and in peacekeeping missions.

It seems there will never be a war shortage. High-tech weapons have, of course, radically changed the nature of warfare. But there will always be a need for human fighters.

This year we will have another way to “put a face” on the brave men and women who made the supreme sacrifice for our freedom. The Cornwall Royal Canadian Legion (RCL) Branch 297 has launched a Memorial Banner program where the photos and names of deceased service members will be displayed on banners along Veterans Walk, between Second Street and Legion Memorial Park.

Take a moment to look at those faces and say thank you.

If you can’t meet a veteran in person, there are many other ways to pay your respects. There are many ceasefire ceremonies in the region. Buy a poppy. And at the eleventh hour, on the eleventh day of the eleventh month, try to be silent for a few seconds.