Florida Coalcracker Chronicles: 911 - The Date Has A Different Meaning For Darmstadt

Friday, June 29, 2018

911 - The Date Has A Different Meaning For Darmstadt

You have to be older than 74 to
remember BRANDNACHT in
Darmstadt - Germany.

One month ago we drifted into Darmstadt on a bus. We caught a cab at the station to our home for a month. We knew very little about our new town - I first heard its name when Lulu said she would be teaching there. Wikipedia said it is called the "City of Science."

On September 11th 1944 - 226 British Lancaster bombers firebombed the city. 13,000 people died - 110,000 were left homeless. The new technique was simple - they no longer picked out targets - the planes just spread out and bombed everywhere - causing a firestorm - that swept through the city. By this time - all the major cities were in rubble. The Allies were simply trying to terrorize the Germans into surrender. Simply - this was terrorism. The Nazis held on until April 30th 1945 when Hitler shot himself.

Ironically - there was a street party our first night in town - and now on this last night there was another one. There was lots of good food - drink - trinkets - and rides. Germany is a booming country - and has lept past many countries to be near the top of the pack in industrial nations. Some say they are the new leader of the free world.

Lulu had a fantastic time teaching here - they invited her back again for next summer. She had many more men students than she is used to.

The students here really are sick of hearing about the Nazis and the past. They abhor a rising NeoNazi minority that wants to praise the past and racism. They seem to love everything American - music - clothing - movies - cars - and sports. It is cool to wear American shirts of sports teams - computer games - etc. The uniform of t-shirts - jeans - and sneakers thrives. They appreciate the gracious treatment of the Americans versus the harsh treatment of the Russians. American did not lose 20 million people in the war like the Russians.

Germany has risen from the ashes - thanks in part to help from the Allies. Germany lost so many men to the war and prisons after the war - women were mainly responsible for cleaning the country up. There are artificial mountains of rubble over here. But many of the historic buildings downtown were restored to pre-war style.

Today at 2 PM - we will walk out of our apartment house - each of us wheeling one bag to the trolley - about 1/4 mile away. The trolley (2 euros) will go to the train station - then we catch a bus (4 euros) to the Frankfurt Airport. We will fly with Scandinavian Airlines to Copenhagen - Denmark. Keith and family will be waiting for us there at an AirBnB house. No work for Lulu for this week. Family time with Max.