By Daniel Nardini
These days, like my father had done, I now spend a lot of my time in the nearest public library. I mostly read magazines and newspapers, and sometimes use the computers for up-to-date information. While in the library, I have over-heard many patrons ask the librarians for books and information on subjects like what is Fascism, origin of the Korean War, the origin of Nazi Germany, the Holocaust, etc. What I do understand is that these questions and inquiries are being asked more due to the Republican-Democrat hyper-political reality of the current era than Americans as a people facing actual life-and-death struggles. Whether one can make the argument that we are living in a Fascist state or a Communist state or heading towards one or the other depends on the person asking the question.
One thing that has largely become true and that is those who knew what both Fascism and Communism are from personal experience and those who lived through and fought in the Korean War or survived the Holocaust are for all due purposes gone. The World War II generation that fought in that war and the Korean War that followed as well as the survivors of the Holocaust and those who survived a lot of the Communist regimes are dead or very old and dying out. Let us look at the time that has passed since the end of World War II. That war ended 81 years ago. The Korean War ended 73 years ago. Even the children who survived the Holocaust and had memories of this catastrophic time have died or are now pushing 100 years old. The year 1989 alone has receded into history. The fall of almost all the Communist regimes not only in Eastern Europe but also around the world occurred 37 years ago. Fascist/Nationalist one-party regimes that existed in Portugal until 1974, in Spain until 1975, and in Taiwan until 1992, are now over one generation to 50 plus years ago.
But even one generation ago is now a long time back. To give an example of what I am talking about; if someone was born in 2001, they would be 25 years old now. They would have no memory of the September 11, 2001 attacks against the United States, they might have some memories of the Great Recession, and most likely vivid memories of the Covid pandemic. Anything before 2001 someone would have no memory at all. It is therefore hard if not impossible for a young person now to have the same feeling or experiences from someone born between, for example, 1950 or 1960. Even those who served in the Vietnam War in their teens in the 1960’s and early 1970’s and are still alive are quite old now. In short, those who knew what Fascism, Communism, the Holocaust, the Korean War, and many other things from the early to middle 20th Century were are now gone. If they were alive today, they could have answered personally anyone’s questions or recommend books that might answer their questions. Sadly, generation loss is a reality of how history goes. Soon, only books, oral histories preserved on youtube, and film documentaries in archives will be left of those who are already gone and will soon be gone. I have done the same through my countless articles in the Lawndale News and with books I have published over the years. So for now I just spend my time in the nearest public library.
Generation Loss
By Daniel Nardini
One thing that has largely become true and that is those who knew what both Fascism and Communism are from personal experience and those who lived through and fought in the Korean War or survived the Holocaust are for all due purposes gone. The World War II generation that fought in that war and the Korean War that followed as well as the survivors of the Holocaust and those who survived a lot of the Communist regimes are dead or very old and dying out. Let us look at the time that has passed since the end of World War II. That war ended 81 years ago. The Korean War ended 73 years ago. Even the children who survived the Holocaust and had memories of this catastrophic time have died or are now pushing 100 years old. The year 1989 alone has receded into history. The fall of almost all the Communist regimes not only in Eastern Europe but also around the world occurred 37 years ago. Fascist/Nationalist one-party regimes that existed in Portugal until 1974, in Spain until 1975, and in Taiwan until 1992, are now over one generation to 50 plus years ago.
But even one generation ago is now a long time back. To give an example of what I am talking about; if someone was born in 2001, they would be 25 years old now. They would have no memory of the September 11, 2001 attacks against the United States, they might have some memories of the Great Recession, and most likely vivid memories of the Covid pandemic. Anything before 2001 someone would have no memory at all. It is therefore hard if not impossible for a young person now to have the same feeling or experiences from someone born between, for example, 1950 or 1960. Even those who served in the Vietnam War in their teens in the 1960’s and early 1970’s and are still alive are quite old now. In short, those who knew what Fascism, Communism, the Holocaust, the Korean War, and many other things from the early to middle 20th Century were are now gone. If they were alive today, they could have answered personally anyone’s questions or recommend books that might answer their questions. Sadly, generation loss is a reality of how history goes. Soon, only books, oral histories preserved on youtube, and film documentaries in archives will be left of those who are already gone and will soon be gone. I have done the same through my countless articles in the Lawndale News and with books I have published over the years. So for now I just spend my time in the nearest public library.