Local Opinion: European travels put "woke" contrivance into perspective

My wife and I completed a tour along Europe’s Danube-Main-Rhine river network. Millions of Americans have made this trip before to marvel at the cities, castles and cathedrals dating back to Roman times.

Yet, while these structures and their histories are wonderfully educational, I find the most interesting facts are those regarding the populations who ruled, fought and actually labored through centuries of floods, famine, pestilence and warfare to evolve as they have today. It’s not so much about the dates and names as it is about the reasons and consequences that make factual histories important. For myself, it is the people who are still living — literally war babies — who share individually or institutionally unvarnished histories which evolved into the horrors of their 20th century.

Prague, in the Czech Republic, is a prime example. In Prague tour guides are not only well versed in their medieval history but are from families that endured the annexation of their homeland by the Nazis and the subsequent occupation by a repressive Soviet government. They tell it like it was and, hopefully, will never be again. Not surprisingly, you will find the Ukrainian flag displayed along with the Czech Republic flag on many government buildings.

Wertheim, a smaller medieval city, is famous for centuries of devastating floods. Prior to the Nazi rise to power, Wertheim had a vibrant Jewish community integrated into the public and economic life of the city. Wholesale discrimination against Jews in Wertheim began in 1934. By 1938 all Jewish owned businesses had been appropriated, synagogues destroyed, and deportations to Dachau had begun. During our visit, we were privileged to have a guide who remembered “Kristallnacht — The Night of Broken Glass” when Storm Troopers broke the windows of Jewish-owned establishments all over Germany. Wertheim’s story is a testament to history, not allowing the horror of the past to be swept away for political expediency. As part of a city-sponsored program, the guide’s presentation is available to anyone wishing to learn about the Holocaust experience in Wertheim and the subsequent reconciliation process.

We ended our time in Europe in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, a country with numerous occupiers over the centuries and scores of famous painters. In Amsterdam the Dutch preserve history as it happened through their memorials and museums. Almost all tourists are familiar with the Anne Frank House and its connection to the Holocaust. Not as many are familiar with the Homomonument, a memorial to the gay and lesbian community that, like the Jewish community, was also persecuted severely by the Nazis. Kudos to the Dutch for recognizing and honoring all Holocaust victims.

Memorializing the Holocaust is not the only attempt to preserve history as it happened. During the 1600s-1800s the Dutch were a great sea power. The Dutch West and East India Companies were heavily engaged in the African slave trade and expropriation of land and resources from Indonesia. Openly displayed in their museums and numerous galleries, the Dutch history of slavery and exploitation has been preserved to be studied as it existed and not minimized to make folks more comfortable.

Upon returning from Europe, we were re-exposed daily to the political contrivance of “wokeness.” What exactly does that mean? Is it a state of “awareness” of how things actually are? Does it require that all histories should be filtered for a particular political conformity because someone is uncomfortable? If so being “aware” or “woke” invites censorship as well as ignorance and intolerance.

What we observed on our trip was quite different. Czechs, Germans and Dutch have been through the consequences of ignoring history a lot longer than we have. They are aware or “woke” to the fact that rewriting history to conform to political ideology is dangerous. In a democracy it is at best a disingenuous pandering for votes.