Thoughts on Rebuilding Dresdin

For those of you following the news here there is massive flooding in various parts of Germany, Prague, China, and Russia. Three of my roommates went to Brandenberg (or maybe Dessau) to volunteer to help with the sandbagging and clean-up efforts.

A few days ago the headline on one of the German papers read "Germans helping Germans".

They asked if I wanted to come along. I said no, and I claimed that since I don't really speak much German, I would mostly get in the way. I am not sure this is true. For some reason I really do not want to help. I am not sure I want to be lumped under the banner of Germans who are helping Germany fight mother nature. Despite the fact that it was probably gratuitous, as an American, I have never thought it appropriate to apologize for the allies bombing of Dresdin. It never really dawned on me to feel bad.

But the paradox: I am here now. I feel no shame in walking the streets. I feel no problem looking around and going to do German things, living with German people, yet when it comes to helping Germany I feel quite reluctant.

However, I think the issue is far deeper than that. If there was a comparable situation in England or Mexico, and I could go there to help, I would. If my roommates were going to Prague, I would have joined. Certainly if it was in the United States and there was something for me to do, I would. So why the hesitancy here?

The Biblical city of Jericho comes to mind. Jericho was a city that Joshua destroyed when entering Canaan. Before the Israelite conquest of what became the Holy land, Joshua met opposition from Jericho, and besieged the city. He and his men walked around it seven times, blew some trumpets and the walls crumbled, and the city fell. God then ordered that on pain of death the city was never to be rebuilt, and no one (no Jew) was to ever live in it.

Sometimes I kind of feel the same way about Germany. One does not feel that the people here are less human. If you prick them, they bleed. Even if they are pricks, they bleed. The ordinary people here are no less deserving of respect than anyone else. But I have so little feel for the institutions here. I have so little feeling for the country. I keep thinking that I want them to end up like Jericho.

For me, rebuilding is a sign of disrespect to those who fought so hard to see it torn down.

That is not to say that I think that those who went to help were wrong. Certainly they were right in helping their fellow man. Moreover, the world looks a lot different from where they are coming from. They are making a new life. They are trying to resume a dignified life and never allow the shame that caused the war to re-emerge. And that is noble. It is virtuous to foster a spirit of help and cooperation here. It is noble anywhere, and should be encouraged.

It is noble to just help. I am just not sure it is noble for me to help.