This is a personal story of remembrance and war from the period 1937 to 1948 from the perspective of Madeleine Albright.
Reading the memoir, I was not the wiser as to why the 2nd World War took place and whether indeed things would have been different had different choices been made. Why must the nations wage war? That said, it is a book that I would every person on earth is able to read and perhaps, with hindsight, conclude that some of the positions taken by mankind leave a lot of destruction in their wake and take eons for future generations to unravel. When all is said and done, I would like to understand the positions taken by Hitler and Stalin. At least, the Russians have tried to sanitise Stalin whereas the Germans are forever scarred by the Hitler question. For intellectual discussion's sake, one would like to objectively understand what the experiment was all about? Why is it, as indicated by Madeleine that the German sins of Aryanisation received more flak than the Czech revenge after the war even though the actions were the same in many ways.
In the then Czechoslovakia the story was about Czechs, Slovaks, Bohemians, Slavs, Jews, Poles, Romas, Germans etc who attempted to build a nation state. It reminds me of our very own problem where we talk about Kikuyus, Kambas, Kalenjins, Pokots, Tukanas, Luos, Luhyas, Somalis, Mijikenda and a plethora of other people groups. My people are now waxing lyrical about those who are marginalised and what it means for their people to be part of that nation state. However, as is so obvious very few people, then as now are full blooded and there are some who have chosen a certain grouping out of choice and convenience.
It is a book that students of politics might be advised to read to understand the futility of some of the positions taken or not taken. Most positions are agreed on - for the interests of the big states. So even now as we ponder the Arab spring - which is the topical issue of our day and age - we must understand that there is always more than meets the eye.
I have never really understood the religious question. This is not for lack of trying. Is it not possible to be Czech and Jew? Later during the Balkan issues I always wondered about the reference to Croats, Serbs and Muslims. Wasn't Muslim a misnomer given that it is a religion and not necessarily a race. Couldn't one be Croat & Muslim or Serb & Muslim? Like Madeleine can one purport to be Jew, Catholic and Episcopal together. As Salim wisely reminded mum and I, "we are all aiming for the same purpose and so there is no good reason to fight". It is not clear whether there will be multiple heavens, the same heaven with different groupings or just one heaven with one grouping. Wouldn't it be better in a family to hedge our bets...just in case.
One must read the book - as one might read a history book in an attempt to understand what exactly happened in Europe during the great war. Of course with the knowledge that all the reasons why can never really be understood in this age. The sad thing is that people lost families, families were displaced and others lost their lives fighting a war that they never really understood or cared about. One might be tempted to say that, when all is said and done, the Munich declaration, the Marshal Plan, the Holocaust, The Benes decrees, The cold war, The 1st and 2nd world wars etc were man's way of trying to resolve or avenge a problem in the best way they knew how. However each time there was always someone who felt aggrieved by the consensus that had been taken.
One cannot but be puzzled by the decisions that were taken by different people when push came to shove. There are those who actively betrayed their own, those who collaborated with the enemy, those who fought against an actual or perceived injustice etc. It reminds me of the mau mau insurrection, where it is said that those who collaborated came out winners and those who fought came out as losers. What should we do in trying to understand then how history should shape the decisions we take. Perhaps with hindsight we would not really judge people too harshly unless we walked the paths they walked in the same shoes they wore.
Last but not least, who is to say which season is better - Winter, Spring, Summer or Autumn.
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