Almost Beyond Human

8/12/2019 Almost Beyond Human

1/10

Alnlo$t BeYondHurnan ConcePtron

Conveyiuganadeqrrateideaafthesecond\AlorldWarisc}osetoirrrpos-sible because, --';:;.cirt--*:"a."alo*n *::ltut

has said' "\l&at wc

tlidto e*ch oth*, il;**ibcyonrl human conception''- F or "i- l,:f:

t}e sheer numbers defeat ;rttempts to flesh them out r'r'ith actual'untqxle

human bei'gs. ilifi and woun#;;;;over 7-E millia*people'' m*re o{

thcm civilians rfr'r"'J,,i*i"tt. Cftt- t"S *ifUon Jews lvere beatcn' shot' or

g*ssed to death f'rj't'*G*'**n'' Ot* millionpeople dicd of starvation

arrd despair in t# ;;-'f i;$;;f' *'-: :o *itt*"'vo-unslnenand

u,onren worll*,it}**"d*mustered intoarrtries, navies' :t'd air

forccs' r r

nrilrion in uu, t-i* s.,ri*t uniol *r.r tl,*unitcd states' ro millio, i'

German,v, 6 millic,n ir: |apan, *.i'*tff;ni, Uotttltaty and Britain' If the

bartle of the s";;* constitut:r';;;;ariu.*uuss 20,moBritistr sel-

tlicrs were kild';; ;;* dry,_tr.,;;lr;t.umberof civilianf were asphvx-

iated u.,.1 t*rri;; ;;;tl' ;"-*t u"*rbing of Haurburg'Scrcntv

t'ousand 4ied at lliroshin"' li'o* 't Nagasali'and t*e same at l)res-

den. Amorrg B;;irh txrnrber "r**r, over ii--ooo were killed'more tlran

alt the Britisr, offi;.;;-kill"d ,"d ;;*d*a in theFirst Warld War'

\lrherr tlre c"r'irr;;r,rd-d-;i; soviet LJni.,, thcyclid so with 165

divisio,s, ,rd ;il;;r"lt 5"'1"'ii** 'r'ern'backwith Eoo' The number

of Germ*r,r ri,t l ;;;;J*.d'-i' iirii"g'.a ***el'ooo'(rhl number

surviving years of captivit)'to returnha're was 6'ooo') Two millir:n lllen

wcrc engaged in the batrle :i"K;;k, inthc soviet Llnion' F-oug*t in

t941,it rernains the g*at-r,lrrJ Uri f-in history' Six thousand tauks

f.ug't each "iir*,iaf*,, i;;;una pU"es' "Ai times"' says Rchert

trckie, .,the;;d i; ur*ir,"e1"irr,'rli;i{J out th" suft"' and"aut of

the blacke,ecl sky fell ,rxi.kini, t,rrrr;ngairplanes'" It was like sollle-

thing *r,p*,,'J"i'i':;i'igl'teneJ peasants-scrcamingi* terror ran for thc

farests rvith thcir harrds o"*' tf'lit ears'" In suc'-circurrtstarrces'only

:nrall numbcrs and a ferv actualtramcs can resume human significance'

like thc ***;; *hrce*tht* **, carne out a i'er'r''e*, on May z4'

1q.11, the gril;;rtrl* .*i;*r-"frnnd blew up.'Ihe rest of the erew,


2/10

30s The Scrvnd ltbrld l{.ar

, ,4 8 men, disappeared. only Signalnran Briggs, &tirlshipman Dundas,and Seaman Tilbum sun'iyed. I ----

No casicr than jrygirlts itu magnitude is specifu,ing the startingpoint of the sccond l4rr:rld

\[rar. sonie would say'it b*grribrek i, r't;with the l'reatv_r:f Versailles, whcn Gerrnany *orr brrli"d.* the instiga-tor of the First \Lbrld l,var ancl was shortly to be chargcd with ..r*p.ir-tions," humiliating and uupayable. (lerman rc-armarnJnt ald aggressive'ational sclf-fustification seenr au inevitable rcaction. Otlreil nrightpor.rt to |apanesc aggre$sion in-china begi**irrg in r93r. The *ol.l-wide economic depression cf thc rg3os asristd th* #; to fro,*,c, ofHitler's National Socialists, *'ho confrivcd the re-militarization of thcRhineland in rq36 and the arrnexatir-rn of Austria and parts of Czecho-slovakia in rg38. [\'Icanw'hi]e, ]apan was ffexirrg nationalist muscles an


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,4lmost Bcvand Human Conccption 309

Itall,'s declaring war on her and invading Egvpt. Soon Ceneral Rorn-rncl's Afrika Corps lvas pre$sing against the British in North Africa.

On |une:,2, rg+r, Cermanv surprisingll, furned cashvard and invadcdits erstwhile ally, the Soviet [Jrriorr, at first r+'ith dranratic success, plung-ing hundrcds of rniles into unsuEpecting and unrcad.v Russian dcfcnses.And if the war spread in tlut clirectir:n in rg4r, in earlv rg4f, it becamegcnuinely a u,orld war whcn |apan scizcd thc Philippines arrd Malal,aand Burrru and adl.anced in the Pacific right up to Australia. Ccrmanvhad an tmdcrstanding rvith |apan, and when, reacting to the attack snPearl Harbor, the United States declared war on ]apan, Ccrmanv rc-sprrrded by declari*gwar orr the Uniteel States. Tlris, togetlrcr *.ith itsinrasian of thc Sct'iet Union. proved a terriblc mistake, hnt it rcquircdyears for the obviously superior industrial capacity of the United Statesto gct inta gcar and for America to nruster and train an army capable ofioining the British in recapturing the Continent and entering Gerrnany.

Ultirnatclv Anrcrican force.s orrfuurmbered llritislr, the reasorr Eisen-hower rvas designated Suprerne AIIied Commander. Cctting Amcricantanks and planes to Iiurcp war; rrct etry, f*r U-lmats sank trans-Atlarrticvessels virtuall-v at will until radar, the convay s1'stcm, and exfencled airprotection shiftecl the *dvantage to tlrc Allies. For Germanv the turningpoint of thc war lva$ prohahl-v thc battlc of Stalingrad, in l"ebruary t{-}13.After that, Cerman forces lrer engaged in practicall--v full-time retreat.To add to Gennanv's troutrles, the Allies inv*ded ltaly anellxgan a slow,painful adrance north.

It was clear to the Allies that getting batk r:trtc the Contirrerrt r+'ould 'be costly. \&}en they had raidcd thc Frcnctr coastal town of llieppc inAugust tg42, they suffered 1o perc-eut casualties arrd achieved nothing.

Although theSovicts in,sisted thxf

theAllics invade

the Continsrt irr1943, the United Statcs and Britain required a year morc to build thclanding craft and to achier-e the absolute air superioritv required fcrrinvrsion. Despite the relative success of the landings in l{ormandy, cnn-quering the still powerful and energetically officered Germarr arnry tookalmost another l'car, during r+,hich tr-Iitlcr's "secret \f,'capons," thc V-rand \r'-z self-propelled bouilrs and racliets, killed ruany civilians in Eng-land and Belgirrm. In the final ycar of the linropean war tlre Allie*overran u,hat earlier had been only the substance of terrible rumors, thccxtermination canrps in rvhich the Gernrarrs killed nrillicns of "sub-human$"-|ervs, Poles, Slavs, gt'psies, and homosexuals.

ln the Far F,ast fapanese power h*d beerr eroeling evcr sirrce thc navalbattle of il{idway, in r9.,tr2, but it *as clcar that givcn thc suicielal fapa-rrese resistanc'e as islarrd after islancl was seized by the r\rrrericans, thehomc islands n'auld have to be invadcd. Tn provide bascs for the ultinrate infantry and marine battle on the fapanese homeland, the Philippines werc recaptured and (Jkinawa occrrpied. Incerrdiary bonrbirrgs *fciyilians prepared the way for invasion: mcre pe.ople (r8o,ooo) n,ere


4/10

3ra ?Ee Se,cr:ri'd l-{'arrU l4'.2,.

t{i}led irr "conventional" attacks on 'fbk'rc in Aprii ,?4s, than in hoththe atomic bombings. A{ter tl're Ccrmail surrcndcr in t{a-v 1945, theAarericans began shifting traops and srrpplies io thc Pecifir:, but th*atom bombs madc invasion rrnnecessary-" lVhen tlre lapanese surreir-

dercd in;lugust rg.+I, Ccn*ral'L{aeArthur exprc sed the understaltlingof billions *'hen tre desigrrated ttr* $':tt "a great tragecll'." "{. tragedygeneratcs fear and piti, and tlrere had bee* plentv of fear and pity forthe past sir yrars. "llrc nr*i* eities of apa:, were iishes, and if y*ears aflxrnrhing lrad iruni*lilystiffened ralher tilen s*flened the Gcrrnan willtn resist, there lryas scarcely s Gcrman city *f an-V siec that was nr-if inruins, u,ith people starving in liales. {Although in ihc Third R*i*h irirc}',the noraral aitendant of madcrn lyar. B'as t*r*, thcrc Er*rr accasiona-iautcrops, After ttrc bom"bing *f llr*srk:n, srlmerlne painterl on the side-*alk. "J'lrank you. ricar Ftihrcr."i trlilli*ns t:f srrddeniy freed farcigr:lvorkcrs, r,nslaycd fnr -ycars h,v the C*rtt:;tlts, r+'*rtdcred ;i,:rass [ur*pe.rnAnv n$ thcm I*nting ancl rapir:g in reveltge. It waui


5/10

Alnost Beyond Human Conception

mans capfured-"bandits," they, called thein-nerc unccremonitruslyshot or hanged, their bodies left dangling to discourage otherc. \tr/ide-sprcad was the Cernun practice of rounding up admittedly innocentpmplc chosen at randorn-the local schoolteacher, the pharmacist, anadopted child, tlre towrr drunk-as hostagcs against partisan attaek inthc district, ten hostages to be shot for each Gerrrran soldier killed. It waslrard to decide whcthcr thc world in general, increasingly,urrinhihitd byformer scruples deriving from religiolr, had grown morc cruel since theF irst World lVar or whether the Germans, nourished on the adolescentarrd ;xtlrr:logic,arl irnS:eratives of National Socialism, had accomplished aunique breakthrough into a nell' anti-ethics of pedantic viciousness.lVhen the Ccrman surreidcr was finally consummated af Rheims, Cen-eral Eisenhoner felt so revotrted hy the recently discloscd death campsthat hc rcfused cven to be present r+''hen the surrerrder was signcd byGeneral lodl, Iater hanged at l\'uremburg.

F'acsdwith eyents so unpreccdentcd and so inaccessible to nornralmodels of humanr understanding, literature spcnt a lot of time standingsilCnt and aghast. fournalism was different. Bi,en'though it *.'as cithcioffiiIII,"*censored'or self-ccnsored (usually both), it pcrformed its norrrr*ltask of rcgistcring the facts, and practiced by a correspondent like I\,Iar-tlra Gellltorr it delilered a crediblc, uscful version of events. But avcrsion not onll'credible but ntorally and artistically significant mrne-tiures seemed beyond the porver of literature to deliver. One irnpedi-ment was suggested hy the prcts. It is demoralizing to be called on to /nfight the samc enemy hvice in the space of tweutl,-onc 1.ears, and what is Ythere to say except what has bccn said the first time? Canadian prrct J* vtth,Iilton Acorn put it this way:

L**t'''fhis is wherc wc came in; this has happened before

Orrly thc Iast time there was cheering.

3rl

iI

II

IIa

itttt

luriush poet Keith Douglas, irr tris poem "flesert F'lcrvers," rcfcrs toilsaac Rosenbcrg's "Break of Day in the Trenches" from the First trtrorldJHrar and admif,, "Rosenberg I only repeat what you wcre saf ing." Her-ib*tt Rcad's poem "To a Conscript of r g4o" exhibits a sirnilar wearincss ,'f , .r-iat this replay of a former disaster. The timc for idcalism, Read notes, is ;"ilong past. The soldiers of the Secorrd trVorld \l,ar carr perform satisfac- li.t; "'' torily, he ohserves, only if they knorv in advance that no social gorxl willI come from the war. .L, Anothcr problcm for literature was the difficultl' of nraking moral , ' , ii sense otrt of circrtntrstances arrcl behavior so destructive of nor*nl morali assumptions. Barbara Fol ,v has defirred tlre problenr wlrile commcntingr on the I lolocaust. It's not, she Hys, that its data are "unknowffble." TIIt

i


6/10

j1: Tht S*vnd l'ljurkJ ll"at

impediment t$ rrndr:r$tanrling the Hr:ia.Elist is that "its frrll dimensiansare inaclressible to the ideoiogicai framervcrks th*t we haye inheritedfn-rr:r tirr liberal )ra."

Alrrcst eniirelv ai:seat fuour the Sec*;rd i{"or{d lVar il,sre those gung-ho celebrations rrtterecl at the hegin*ing af ti:e f"irst \Var ht' RupertBrookc and tr\'-. iri. Itrcdgsor':. Ev thc tinrt i{itl*rl:ad inraded Poland andthe Allies krr**.n thc3. pqr,rirl Lur.'e tu figlrt, tlre *ld illusion tliat lrxr u,'asanything hut criminal and rrlc$$:' rvas largel,v in iatters. As Rohcrt E.Sheru,ood said, the Sec*ld l\,'orld ldrar tas "the first in Arlrerican his-tory [and *f *ourse el'rn ril$re sc ilr l]ritis]r histor;] irr w]rich the generaldisillusir:nmcnf prcccdcd thc firing ni ihc first shct." Cr *s one Britonremerrbered tlre national stale af mind at ilre oirtbreak of the rvar, "l\iel+'src all conscientious nbiectnrs. ancl ali i* lthe uar.l." Y.,'trrx E. i\,{"Forstrrr rvas *skcd in r g4a u,I"rat hc irlt abor:t thc r+.ar, hc rcplicd, "{d*n'trvant tr: lose it, I d*r:'t cxpert lJictr:ry iwith * big 1 i, altd I crn't foin irr;n-v tnlild-*-fie11'-1?orlcl stri#. *ncs in a iifetir*e one can srvallorr,lhat, bnt**t tu,icc." &s a rnriir'* f*r s*.l*-ir"*m*lati*n amflirg thc Allics, patriatisrnseerucd closc ia ubs*lcle. "\'l,jho tiie Leii dies for liirrg *nd Countrl'anymnreT" askcd a {}a***i*rr*o}rli*r. '".{hat crap 11irnt out in fhe First\4/orld trtrnr."

Consrquently, reg;rrdless c$ its tfuuger, fur tlrr.rse iurplimtecl in it theScconcl 1\'ar coulil sccm alm*st bo;ir*g. Cnc of thc hcst *nrJ r*ost rfprc-sentative poerns frurrr the Secorrd l.Yar is Slun Lcrvis's "AllDay It l"lasRaine*," which catrfies the sense th*t rttrile r:ltin:ate significance nral.'bc possiblc. at thc morncni thc rvar is a grcat cmptincss. ; r sigh, not *screanl of pain or a sliout of outrage, seenrs a tvpical sountl of this war.{}nlikc thc loqnacity'nfiich is one of the crrltural atteldants of t}re First1tr'ar. silence is the stigma of cxpericncc in tirc Srcond. lVriters as articu-latc as \\.'allacc Stcvcns, 1'. S. Hliot, Roberi Fr*st, auqi Saurucl Beckttthad littlc tc sav aboi:t thc irar. and fr{mund lf ilson. fo}rrr B*rryman,and llehuore Sclruariz s*tretintes *cted as if it lvere r:at takin{ p}*ce.The Allied troops iike-*ise tesrded to silence, *r *t lcast to a hrer.ig'suggcsting sc\-crc discrchantmci.rt. Orc* thr war r4,a$ o1cr, $ar m*rsl *fthe pariicipants there r+,as liitle Lc be ssid either, "1i"1:en I rame back""one soldier saicl. "l didn't reirJize haw silr*t t had been throtrgh thosefour y*ars. ai-rri I . . . c*ntinu*cl sil**t. It *es funn-y." Soldiers n'h* wercr+.ritcrs becrrrre *ilerit toa. &s Hlrl SLapiiu says. speaking af lohn Ciardiancl other vo*ng rr,,rifers u,,h*'d bccn in coni.bat and haei plent;; to tcstifyabout, "lVc all camc out erf ihr san-rc armv anil ir:iacil the same genera-tioir *f silcrice."This timc, Icss saiil the irett*r, as lahsr Fridncv writ*s in his pocril"&{issinq," deplorinE thc ileath af his fric*d "Smith":

L"-


7/10

,Tknost BeS,ond H*man Cbnc.eption 3r?

No roses at thc endOf Smith, my friend.

8,"Jffilin::f,1:lcpns'iThat suggests thc exhaustinrr b-v modern war of elegiae language anclimagcry- Gavin Etart implies as much bv avoiding irraiili"r It"giacprrrcedures irr his poem "lVhen a Beau Co.* Irr." fhe a.Ju"iion of apilot in his airplane has becotre so routinc ,.,.1 *rrniugfi ,l*t ..j\o-Eay sa,vs, 'Poor lad-' " The irony of sc.cond worrd iv;;r; seemseffortless, iuevitahle, naftrral, as in Rand*ll Jarrell's ..The b;;;i, of theBall Turret Cttnnc-r"-representative alsa in its brevity. i"hir-;;rvilling-ness to embroider suggests a t'orlcl whcre scnsitir.e ur.ru of langrragc haveheel virtuall-v forcetl into thc laconic m,de r the "*.*rr*"oipropr-ganda, ad'ertising, publicitv, a*d natia*alistic l1,ing.

Becattse of both censorshipand thc dcsire to win thc rvar on its oryncontemporary terms, it's not casy tq firrd people r+,riting interestinglr..rf

the rvar r+'hile it'.t going on. Civerr the **nti*"ntali*# ili;;trioricwartime iournalisrn and the cleceptivcncss of olEci*l orriurionr, rl4 gir..enthe false cottceptions of character and nrotivation nourishcj Uy gogr.-wood arrd by wr,iting aimed at Hollyr+'aod, onc turns rvith relief to theIetters and diaries of soldiers. 'l'hesc acl*it a reacler to ,,rrr,.ihing likeachmlitv, that is, the seildier's 1+?r. As trre historian Rogcr I- ipi1., tr*said,

Becausc the.soldier's history of nar ctroes not readily suhmit to the orderlvrequirements of histcry, and becausc, when unc*vcrcd, it ofter .frrff.rrg;thc orderl-v traditions hy.u''hich lrilitar-v history has shaped

"u,u"a.rrtand-

irrg of r+"arfare' the soldicr'.r wilr has been ttrc gieat ,."r*i of militarl,|ist{,ry.And within this special, .sccrct histary of *ar. the darkcst.orn*, Lf;;iH;had to do with war's esscntial. dcfini*g feature---combat, *,hat itJ* nU tohave lived thrgug it, ancl tn havc lfted with oue's own comhat historv forthc rest of ole's life.

There is lto rnore illuminating testiurou,v- abaut the soldier's nar in theselsctions fhaf follow than that of tinitcd Srates il,{arine Eug"rr. B.-Sledge, whose rnenroir, with the otd Breed at peleliu o,nd ok;nino, rr*rbecor*e a classic of modesty, honesty, and simpliciqv, *or* ;l*; tha'itlrv amCIunt of literary sophisticutian. And fr*m tlie Axis side there is9q,t Saicr's memorable aicount of his soldier's r+'ar in {he Forgottensoldier. Americ'an Privatc First

cras* ir{itc}rcllshrrp". oho rougi.,t ,tr.Cerrtrans r+'ith thc infarrtry in F rance and Cermany, gets t1e sildier,snar right when he tells his mother,

,l.lli{ .li - ::. -.'''-r

i-


8/10

The fund l4rorW War314

If you cogld only se m kids killed at eighteen, nineteut and twenty fiS],t-ing in a cm'rntryihat means nothing to us' Eghtingleca$e it means either

Ufr * be ldlld" not because you're rnakilg tlre world safe for dcmocraty ordestroying Nazism-

The death of his fricnd Nal, killed near him and left by th-e si$ of the

** i.*th *yo rna mouth oper," has shorn hirn "what a hopeless andil*el"s* #k

"ythis rper is.; That pereptrtrn $cems to arise onb from

"*"-;;, and orprienceirr the library, film theater, debating society,

or-*lo*r**will not $ecrn to suffice'


9/10

446 fr,andal? .farrdl

as a {fight-e'$srtr*lfer i*sfe*d. Aiter the war lie taugltt at SsraU L*wr*stca*d at fir I4"*r:**s Cc,ff*gc of th* i,t:;i.r:rss'*.r:y','Yorf,t f*rorbra.

El*N:'i: ;'Lrg, l'-aacx

It, i* a* rfrrl e*g1t r":f the hutm*nt,, A Pt pp-r* Iaps the rrrater fu*.tu: * {i3:1I Of {lon,er$, anrJ t}rr drur:k se:gi:*rrt s}ratipg

\fu']:istles G PawdisoJ*_sha]] I say'that ma**'wtlf*ffmcrtl:*v*saici: * vs*l{ tr: man?

The otiier nturderers troi:p in yxwnir:g;Ttrret *f ihem pla1, Pitch, cne sleeps, and arieLic* cr;*nting nr issi*ns,'trics there *w*ating'l"illev*n his heart heats: iln*; []:i*;**c{}murricrcrs . , Still, this is }t..r'it's dont:-fhis is a x,ar. . . . But sinc* thes* play, befare ihe,v die,Like puppies rr ith their prrppy; sinc,:, a rnar].I diC as tirase h*ve dcne. but did r:at dic--*I will ccuie:rl t]re people as I rtr:And give up these to thern: Bchcld the crxr

I ha*;e slffered, rn a dream, bet:atue of hinr,-L{irrry"tfuirrgs; fur ihis l:lsi sayi{-,ur, ttlar,I have lied as I lie uov.,. But ta,hat is ly'irrg?

l{cn -vr"sh thcir hantls. in blc*d, as hcsi i}rr.v can: find no fa*lt in this irist rna:--,.

'$f-r'

w

'l'{-rx T}l:-q':'}l {}F'=rr r': Bat,r, Tt-lnne'r tr.:n+ren

Frc'rn rtly rll*ther's s}*ep i leli i:rit-, tlle St*ie,end I hurrched in its

-*e111; till ,:i:, u.'*t iu: ksff.Six mii*s frarn -*arth, Ic*scd {ri:m its drcam *f lif*,I nal:e to bhck ftak;:l:ri tht ::ight$tart fighi*rr.l4rherr I died *r*r. wirshed -rtt* i:ut *i th* t:-rrrei x,itir r irr:se.


10/10

losscr 4.V

Losses

It was not r3ying: everl,body dietl.

It was not dving: we had diecl before[n t]re nrutine c-r:rshes-and our ficldsCalled up the papers, wrcte trorne to sur folks,And the rates trosc, all bccause of us.lVc died on thc wrong page of the alrrauac,Scattered on mourltains fifty rtiles a$:ey;Didng orr haystacks, fighting with a fricnd,1[,e blazed up on the lines ]vc ne]r sau,.\.\re clied like aunts or pets or f*reigners.(\trhen rr,c lcft high school nothing else lrad disdFor us to figure we had died like.)

In our newplanes,

rvitlr our $elv crewsl wc bombedThe r*nges hy the ele$ert nr tlre shore,Fired at to*,ed targcts, r*.aitcd for our scores-,{nd turncd into replacements and *'olee upOnc morning, 6rrer England, operational.lt r+asn't different: but if we dirdIt rvas fot an accident brrt s rnistakc(But an easv one for an-lrlne to make).We rcad our mail and connted up our missions-In homtrcrs namcd for girls, ive burnedl'he citics we lrad learned about in school-Till our lives wore out; our hdies lay among

Thepeople

rve had killed ancl never $een.\tterr r*.c Iastettr long enough thcy garc us medals;Wherr rve died thc-v said, "Our casualties lvere low."'l'hey said, "Herc are thc maps"; we burned the cities.

It *r'as not dying-no, not ever dying;Ilut the night I died I dretrned that I llas dsd,And the cities said to me: "\Mhy arc yuu dying?lVe *re satisfied, if you are; but why did I diel"

Almost Beyond Human

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