Human Smoke: The Beginnings of World War II, the End of Civilization

by Nicholson Baker

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New York: Simon & Schuster 2008    536 pp  $30.00

Peace is not a relationship of nations. It is a condition of mind brought about by a serenity of soul.Peace is not merely the absence of war. It is also a state of mind.Lasting peace can come only to peaceful people.
– Jawaharlal Nehru 

At some point, peace has got to become our firm and stated commitment, not the semblance of peace but a true peace in heart, mind and soul, and yes, in our actions and behaviors as well. We look to the heroes of our past to find some of our answers, and then we simply have to step past them, to dream the world anew.  As Nathaniel Hawthorne put it, “Let us thank God for having given us such ancestors. And let each successive generation thank Him not less fervently for being one step further from them in the march of ages.”

I just finished the book, Human Smoke: The Beginnings of World War II, the End of Civilization by Nicholson Baker, about the events during the 1930’s and 1940’s that drove us to a Second World War. What a fascinating book! I found this quote by Jawaharlal Nehru specifically so that I could talk about this, as there were very few leaders during that time who had peace on their minds or in their hearts.

Sometimes the best way to get to the light of our lives is through taking a good look into the shadows of our humanity. As long as these stay in the dark, they have the power to influence our thoughts and behaviors in ways we would never consider acceptable in the light of day, and that is what this particular musing is all about.

For instance, I learned that there was a lot of violence and discounting of humanity during the 1920’s and 1930’s, even after enduring a first World War that should have taught them some lessons about peace and compassion, about the futility of brutality.  Before WWII, England was particularly cruel in the Middle East, where they didn’t view Muslims as equal in their humanity and would kill farmers and peasants from planes.  Churchill certainly thought of Mahatma Gandhi as less than human and wouldn’t even deign to meet with him when he traveled to England. It was assumed that those from the Middle East and India did not have equal rights under the law, and they were treated as unwelcome guests in their own land.

The peace treaty with Germany after the first World War was more of a punishment than a true peace treaty. It created great poverty, restrictions, and desperation in Germany, resulting in their following a madman that promised them a return of their dignity and sense of control.

I found out that only Costa Rica and Australia would accept, in any meaningful numbers, Jews who were fleeing the Nazis. Even Palestine was turning people away (Palestine was an English protectorate), to the point of shooting at their boats when they tried to land. The United States government, and FDR in particular, definitely ignored their plight.  They blamed it on the necessity of honoring the U.S. quota system (only 1200 people from that part of the world a year), leaving the others to fend for themselves. Though Eleanor Roosevelt advocated for opening up the quota during this emergency, FDR was noticeably silent on the matter and his silence spoke volumes. In fact, there were a number of times in Roosevelt’s life when he talked about there being too many Jews around.

All the horror stories fell on deaf ears.  England even arrested and incarcerated those who were able to escape Germany under the guise that there might be some terrorists in the bunch (sound familiar?). Did you know that Hitler wanted to send the Jews away but when no country would accept them, he came up with the Final Solution? Germany did not own the patent on anti-Semitism, not by a long shot.

Those who advocated for peace were considered naive at first, and then traitors and subversives, and in some cases arrested for treason. That sounds really familiar!

At the beginning of WWII, England fiercely bombed German cities for many months before Germany finally turned around and retaliated on England.  The accuracy of these English bombing missions for hitting their military targets was only 1%. The way they decided to get around that was to bomb the middle of the populated areas so that at least they were killing more Germans.  The concept of innocent civilians, women and children was a moot and undiscussed point. You might be surprised to find out that Hitler wanted to end the fighting on several occasions and England (particularly Churchill, the consummate warrior) repeatedly refused.

Roosevelt sent both pilots and planes to China so that they could fight the Japanese more effectively many months before Japan attacked Pearl Harbor.  Now, I know that Japan was also being brutal in their fight with China, and so I’m not defending them. I’m just pointing out the lack of a clear good guy/bad guy scenario, as we were aggressive toward them before they were aggressive toward us.

I don’t think anyone would defend the actions of Hitler during that time, but I was very disappointed that I couldn’t defend the actions of Churchill or Roosevelt either.  I don’t know how they could have dealt differently with such a madman as Hitler, and clearly, Hitler was the main aggressor in this conflagration. What I do know, though, is that all of them share some level of responsibility for both the build-up toward aggression and the carnage that ensued.  Both prejudice and indifference were at least a part of all of their make-ups.

If we can see these people for whom they really were - good, bad and indifferent - then that will help all of us to understand ourselves better. I want to know the reality, not the myth of a person. I want to know their light and their shadow, because it is only in seeing the whole picture of a purported hero that we can find our way to the light of our own heroism. Even more, it will help us to more accurately define what we mean by the word hero and what we mean by peace.

After World War I, we had a World War II and then a Korean War, and then a Vietnam War…the list goes on and on up to and including the Iraqi War…precisely because we have not yet found the peaceful state of mind that Nehru talked about. We haven’t even made it a priority. Just one look at our recent fractious election process will highlight that statement.  And what strange twists of self-harming consciousness have to be performed to make war seem patriotic and peace seem unpatriotic?

We seem to keep searching for the next great second-class citizen.  In our history, Jews, gays, African-Americans and others of African heritage, Chinese, Japanese and others of Asian heritage, Muslims and those of Middle Eastern heritage, Irish, Italians, Germans, French, Russians, Polish, Catholics, Mexicans and those of Latin American heritage, Native Americans, heavy people, disabled people, old people, women, children, atheists, socialists, communists, immigrants, poor people, Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, the Green Party, and those without education have all held this perceived low spot for segments of our society who cling to the wish to be at the top of that hierarchy. I’m sure you can think of others to add to this list, and you are probably a member of at least one of these groups yourself. At the very least, we all remember the indignities of childhood and would like avoid the similar indignities of old age! The moment we start seeing someone different from us as “less than,” as less worthy of the equal human rights we so dearly guard for ourselves, when we stop assuming others’ good intentions simply because of the color of their skin, their gender, their ancestry, their religion, their sexual preference, or their life circumstances, then we are adding to the violence in our world.

Lasting peace can come only to peaceful people
           - Molly Roberts

Review by Molly Roberts, MD
LightHearted-Drs.BruceAndMollyRoberts@postmaster.goldbar.net
http://www.lightheartedmedicine.com

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