What defines a hero?

World War II was a painful experience for virtually the entire world. On a personal level almost every person then alive felt the impact directly as a friend or relative, perhaps a neighbor, was someone who was injured or killed during the war. Yet even without the physical impact the emotional impact was terrifyingly high. It was an ideological war as one of its vital components.

You had the growing nationalism and racism of the Japanese (and if you have never examined this component I heartily endorse Race War in the Pacific, a hard to find but insightful tome into how the growth of pride in Asian power was a contributing factor to Japanese imperialism), Germans (if I need to explain this one you need to do a better job of studying even in the most cursory way the events surrounding WWII) as well as the growing racial awareness of others (the British came to understand the harmfulness of their domination of India, for example, the US marked a turning point as exploits of groups such as the Tuskegee airmen combined with shared experiences in the trenches to form the forces that would lead to the Civil Rights movements of the 50s and 60s).

You also had the violent clash of political and economic ideologies; the Imperialism of France, England, Germany, Japan, Russia and, to a lesser extent, the U.S. collided with each other alongside the clash of democracy with fascism with communism with Pan-Asianism.

There was heroism on all sides. It would be easy to dismiss, for example, the heroism of Germans as their deeds were swept under by the overarching evil of their pogroms and genocidal instincts. Yet it would not be accurate. Some Germans risked everything to help Jews. Some won medals for their combat heroics. Just because they were the enemy does not mean some of them did not perform heroic actions.

But now there is a war over memory. Take, for example, Estonia. For most of the Estonians the war brought forth oppression under the Soviets. It was a long period, lasting until 1991. And they do not wish to remember it as a positive thing. So they removed a war memorial...of a Soviet soldier.

To the Soviets this is very insulting. Millions upon millions of Soviets died to stop the Nazi menace. To the Soviets they were liberators. To the Estonians they were dominators, invaders, oppressors.

This is not unusual; not too long ago I read a book on the Punic Wars. At various times the same city-state would regard the Romans as liberators or oppressors, depending on how long they had been there. It pretty much has been that way ever since. Our own history is rife with times when "liberator" is a framing device for "conquest". And never forget...the "Battle" at Wounded Knee was among the most decorated "battles" ever recorded in American history. To the victims...err, losers, that has long been a sticking point. As recently as a year or so ago I was still seeing articles regarding the demand to have the Medals of honor rescinded. Why?

Because as long as those medals are out there as awards then the nation officially recognizes a tragic massacre as a heroic action. It is a symbol of wrong being treated as a heroic action.

As such, I completely understand where the Estonians are coming from. The Soviet regime was many things...murderous, vengeful, oppressive...and having a tribute to a representative would be difficult to bear.

By the same token...for the Soviets, the price they paid was indeed huge. Of course, a lot of this was because of the nature of their armies; poorly trained, under-equipped, horribly led, and motivated by fear....they threw away millions of men because the men meant nothing to them. They would abandon entire armies and simply order them to fight to the death...or return to be tortured to death. And these armies were to achieve no strategic purpose.

In other words, the cost in men was much higher than it needed to be. Regardless, the numbers were staggering...and it is certainly understandable how they might believe that sacrifice gives them certain rights or honors due them.

If I were Estonian I would certainly want the statue torn down. If I were Russian I would want it up. There is no easy answer.

The Story
The Analysis

The addendum; for those who want a required bi-lingual forum and are against the "English as official language" crowd and did not learn from the dissension rippling across Canada...check out how the language is affecting the above situation as those who do not speak the dominant language feel "discriminated against". Hmm.