Looking Back on D-Day

Normandy, June 6, 1944. The day the Western Allies launched their invasion of the German Atlantic Wall. One of the landing points earmarked for an attack by American forces was codenamed Omaha Beach. 34’000 troops landed there and were pitted against only 308 German soldiers. Though small in number, the defenders fiercely fought back. Within minutes, the foreshore became a scene of death and despair. Ernest Hemingway, who observed the beach from a Higgins boat, witnessed hundreds of dead and dying that day.

Now, 70 years later, as I look out over the beach and towards the Channel, it is hard to imagine the atrocities of that infamous day. The coast is beautiful, and families come here to rejoice in playing and being together. Only this year is different. World leaders, veterans and people from all continents have gathered in Normandy to remember, re-enact and celebrate the landings in light of the 70th anniversary of D-Day.

President Obama spoke from the US war cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer. As a gifted storyteller, he described D-Day in vivid terms, recalling that “by daybreak, blood soaked the water”, and concluding on an optimistic note that “future generations, whether 70 or 700 years hence, will gather at places like this to honor [the veterans and dignitaries] and to say that these were generations of men and women who proved once again that the United States of America is and will remain the greatest force for freedom the world has ever known”. His speech certainly gave the American people a sense of unity and purpose, but it was also polarizing on an international and personal level.

I attended the commemoration and was sitting next to an old man named Kurt Keller. Though small in stature and a bit frail, he has kept a lively spirit. I was given the opportunity to direct a documentary about his journey back to where it all began. On that Longest Day of the year 1944 Kurt stood on the German side. A soldier of the Wehrmacht, he was 19 years old and willing to die in the name of the Führer. The education and propaganda in the Third Reich had indoctrinated him with the National Socialist world view, and he was convinced to stand up for the right cause. Many Americans perished under the fire of his machine gun, but if you peer through the looking glass the other way, many Americans also fell under the watch of Franklin D. Roosevelt. In an interview, Kurt said to me that war is the result of a failed diplomacy. From his point of view, there are no winners, only survivors, and whoever comes through in the end will be haunted by the abominations of a ruthless war. When you run into a battlefield and the adrenaline starts flooding your system, your beliefs and political inclinations are of little importance. You don’t think in nationalistic terms. The only thing you want to do is survive and go home.

Apparently, as the leader of a nation, you have to tell a different story, omitting the grey areas that could blur the line between good and evil. So, it’s not surprising that Obama used the word “Nazi”. His speech was centered around the valor of the American forces, and there was not much sympathy for those who fought on the German side. Though Germans themselves are far more critical and generally don’t idolize their soldiers from WWII, I believe it is important to reconcile and listen to those who experienced war first-hand, even if they happened to be on the wrong side of history.

During his stay in Normandy, Kurt was honored at a ceremony in Ravenoville and got a chance to face former enemies, shake their hands and salute them in military fashion which is a sign of respect. That’s how he managed to find some closure. And his is definitely a story worth telling, because it moves to a peaceful resolution.