Russia invades Ukraine.
When you grew up listening to the stories of your grandparents who had to flee their home and fight against the Germans in 39-45, when you heard about the demarcation line in France, which was difficult to cross, but which had to cross at all costs without being killed, that you grew up listening to the songs of the Partigiani and the Alpini, such as Bella Ciao Where What a mazzolin di fiori, well, when you learned this story, each new war resounds in your head like a dashed hope. Again !
Obviously, there are many instabilities and violence elsewhere, in the Middle East, in Asia, in Africa, not to mention the decline of democracy almost everywhere. However, seeing one country invade another by force, despite international pressure, leaves a sour taste in my mouth.
And when my son says to me: “Mom, I don’t understand. They know that there will be deaths and they will kill, for real? ! », bitterness turns to discouragement. How do you explain war to a child? By telling him that human beings are very complex, then by trying to reassure him. But words carry little weight against the stark reality we offer our children.
And if this war is disturbing for a child here, what about the children who have to be evacuated with the women? NATO said it wanted to avoid a large-scale escalation of human rights abuses, but what about them?
We teach our young people history. We remind them of it so as not to reproduce the same thing, but when we abandon history through war and empty words, we are only givers of lessons without virtue.