I had occasion to be reminded of this song just now which I share not to suggest how our war against Russia will unfold, but only to the subject of “collective memory,” which all societies have, to include Israel, Israeli Arabs, Palestinians, Ukraine, the U.S. (Remember Pearl Harbor, which set the tone for the Cold War), China (the Rape of Nanking), etc., with all regularly “remembered,” even if only subconsciously, until something brings a memory into consciousness, like here with this song from long ago for me. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOx1qNUMnCcLyrics Lyrics They crossed over the border, the hour before dawnMoving in lines through the dayMost of our planes were destroyed on the ground where they layWaiting for orders we held in the woodWord from the front never cameBy evening the sound of the gunfire was miles awayAh, softly we move through the shadows, slip away through the treesCrossing their lines in the mists in the fields on our hands and on our kneesAnd all that I ever was able to seeThe fire in the air glowing red, silhouetting the smoke on the breeze All summer they drove us back through the UkraineSmolensk and Viasma soon fellBy autumn we stood with our backs to the town of OrelCloser and closer to Moscow they comeRiding the wind like a bellGeneral Guderian stands at the crest of the hillWinter brought with her the rains, oceans of mud filled the roadsGluing the tracks of their tanks to the ground while the sky filled with snowAnd all that I ever was able to seeThe fire in the air glowing red silhouetting the snow on the breeze In the footsteps of Napoleon the shadow figures stagger through the winterFalling back before the gates of Moscow, standing in the wings like an avengerAnd far away behind their lines the partisans are stirring in the forestComing unexpectedly upon their outposts, growing like a promiseYou'll never know, you'll never know which way to turn, which way to look you'll never see usAs we're stealing through the blackness of the nightYou'll never know, you'll never hear usAnd the evening sings in a voice of amber, the dawn is surely comingThe morning roads leads to Stalingrad, and the sky is softly humming Two broken Tigers on fire in the nightFlicker their souls to the windWe wait in the lines for the final approach to beginIt's been almost four years that I've carried a gunAt home it will almost be springThe flames of the Tigers are lighting the road to BerlinAh, quickly we move through the ruins that bow to the groundThe old men and children they send out to face us, they can't slow us downAnd all that I ever was able to see the eyes of the city are openingNow it's the end of the dream I'm coming home, I'm coming home, now you can taste it in the wind, the war is overAnd I listen to the clicking of the train-wheels as we roll across the borderAnd now they ask me of the time that I was caught behind their lines and taken prisoner"They only held me for a day, a lucky break, " I say they turn and listen closerI'll never know, I'll never know why I was taken from the line and all the othersTo board a special train and journey deep into the heart of holy RussiaAnd it's cold and damp in the transit camp, and the air is still and sullenAnd the pale sun of October whispers the snow will soon be comingAnd I wonder when I'll be home again and the morning answers "Never"And the evening sighs, and the steely Russian skies go on forever |