David's Special Places

Dachau, Munich. It feels a little disingenuous to tag a concentration camp, and the one where the Nazi’s started it all in March 1933, as a special place. However, I beg to differ. If you enter those gates and come away unaffected then to me, you need to take a deep look inside yourself, as your humanity needs rediscovering.

On our trip I carried a camera and to this day cannot recollect why I never felt compelled to lift it to my eye. Yes, I have visited other places where great “crimes” were perpetuated on people including a Stalin era mass grave near Ekaterinburg and other places where many people lost their lives including The Alamo, Culloden, Gallipoli and the 9 11 Memorial. None come close to Dachau and the “evil” that took place there.

One positive memory from this visit is the young tour guide who took Carolyn and I through Dachau with three others, all non-English speaking so basically we had him to ourselves. He explained to us how young Germans were actively encouraged to learn about these times “to ensure it never happens again”. Sadly, the modern world appears to be more interested in editing, and even deleting, history that makes it feel uncomfortable than learning from it.

‘Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it’
George Santayana

Work Makes One Free

Gallipoli, Turkey. Turkey itself is a pretty amazing place and the way the Turks embrace Kiwis, given we tried to invade them during WWI, is truly something to experience. Gallipoli is where the Australian and New Zealand, ANZAC, troops landed, and many died, at what became known as Anzac Cove on April 25, 1915. A campaign that was doomed to eventually fail and that many consider commenced New Zealand’s march to independence. April 25, ANZAC Day is a national day of commemorance not just in Australia and New Zealand but is also recognised in Turkey and the United Kingdom. At dawn thousands gather to remember those who were killed in war and honour returned and serving servicemen and women.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

In 2005 David, Carolyn, David’s Father and Brother met in Istanbul and travelled together to Gallipoli to fulfil what was one of David’s fathers bucket list items. As a Returned Serviceman, Royal New Zealand Air Force, and as a Returned and Services Association President and Life Member David’s father had a personal interest in Gallipoli but he was also documenting the lives of those from his home town who had lost their lives and been interred, not just at Gallipoli, but at other sites across Europe.

Once the ANZAC’s landed as they endeavoured to move inland they used an area that became known as Shrapnel Gulley. It was here on a fine day that David found himself on a small hill looking across at his brother on another small hill, his father further up Shrapnel Gulley and Carolyn further down. He vividly remembers standing there while the mana of the area engulfed him for quite a few minutes.

War brings out the worst and best in people. Great things can come from adversity. Engraved forever at Anzac Cove (see image below) are these words from Kemal Ataturk, the Commander of the Turkish 19th Division during the Gallipoli Campaign and the first President of the Turkish Republic from 1924-1938:

Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives. You are now living in the soil of a friendly country therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side here in this country of ours. You, the mothers, who sent their sons from faraway countries wipe away your tears; your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well.

Likewise, the monument that depicts a Turkish soldier carefully carrying a wounded ANZAC soldier in his arms. The story goes that:

After another unsuccessful offensive, when both sides fell silent to prepare for the next battle, only rare random shots came from the trenches. Meanwhile, a wounded Australian soldier was left lying in no man’s land. He moaned and called out to his comrades, but in vain: none of the Australian soldiers, of course, would have dared to approach him to become a live target for the enemy.

Suddenly, the shooting from the side of the Turkish troops stopped, and a fighter with a white flag rose from the trench (for this, he used his shirt). Then, in complete silence, the Turkish soldier approached the wounded man, carefully raised him, carried him to the enemy trenches, and then returned to his own, after which the battle continued.

Red Square, Moscow.  During his motorcycle trip across Russia David ended up spending a few days in Moscow as his brother wound up in hospital. After making sure he was okay David caught the underground (amazing old stations) into central Moscow. Exiting from a side alleyway he entered Red Square to the spectacle of the Kremlin and then Saint Basil’s Cathedral. It may be in part that it is such a historic place but it is also likely to be because the Kremlin, and everything associated with it, has played a part in many of the novels, and movies, he has enjoyed over the years.

David returned another day and enjoyed a leisurely stroll around the high walls that completely encompass the Kremlin.

Tip: If you end up in hospital in Moscow make sure you have someone who can deliver soap and toilet paper to you as they are rare commodities.