Propaganda

Remembrance Day is this coming Friday and I hope you’re able to observe it somehow. As many of those who read this blog are aware, my dad was a veteran of the Second World War. He served overseas with the North Nova Scotia Highlanders. This past year one of my nieces sent me word that there is now a museum in Amherst dedicated to the North Novies as well as a group on Facebook. I joined the group and receive regular updates. A few days ago the following was posted:

There is an article in the Nova Scotian (the Chronicle Herald insert) today about the North Novies murdered at the Abbaye D'Ardenne just after D-Day. Refreshingly, the article is not about the perpetrators but about these men and the injustice of mistreating prisoners of war. Despite the innuendos which surface in literature about the war, without evidence, that Canadian soldiers mistreated german prisoners in Normandy, the North Novies did not retaliate or in any way emulate the behavior of the SS they fought. This was so because they were decent men who volunteered to fight an enemy trying to spread a dictatorship over Europe and beyond, and who were repulsed by the atrocities they saw and knew about, and had no motivation to replicate or associate with the barbaric acts of the SS. Those who have suggested otherwise have no comprehension of the motivations of these highly trained soldiers, and offer with their comments ‘we were just as bad’ or some other careless leveling aside, the ultimate insult to this regiment and the memory of those who fought. All human behavior is not the same and we need to remember the sacrifice but also the values of our NNSH soldiers. Lest we forget. [posted by Kirby Grant on the Nova Scotia Highlander’s Museum Facebook site]

Not only do I have a personal interest in things pertaining to the North Novies, but I am very interested in the issue raised by Kirby Grant. It seems that it is becoming increasingly common for people to adopt the opinion that there are no real heroes, only villains. The old axiom is true for the most part that ‘history is written by the winners’, however this is no excuse for blatantly rewriting history with no consideration whatsoever for the evidence. Historical details are more often than not documented or verified by multiple sources and often confirmed by objective parties. Furthermore, the assumption that no one is ever honourable and no cause is ever just; that all men, groups or countries ever engaged in conflict have nothing but self interest at the expense of others as their motivation is more than cynical - it is diabolical. It skewers the facts of history, not to mention current events, in such a way as to provide a cloak for evil and it blinds us to noble causes. It frustrates the attempts of good men to address the very real evils that exist in our world. We are not the same as those who throw acid in women's faces or threaten them simply because they want to learn. We are not the same as those who teach their children to blow themselves up in order to kill innocent people. We are not the same as those who seek to convert you to their religion by offering you the choice to be like them or die. We are not.

So, keep your eye out for this type of misguided propaganda because it is very effective. Control the media and you control the masses.