Another piece of thought, this time taken from the mind of Robert Hogan. I do not own any of the characters, I am imagining how they felt and how they would speak about certain topics.
Robert Hogan will tell you a story about command, luck, chance and ideology. As I said before, I have not seen what World War 2 was like, I can only imagine. I hope no one takes offence at this piece of writing, remember, these are my ideas, you don´t have to believe them or agree with them.
Part II: Robert Hogan
I was Papa Bear, I am Papa Bear still. Some people saw me as the most important man in Hogans Heroes, after all we were named Hogans Heroes. This is my story, the story of command, of luck and chance and ideology.
Command meant more in those days than being the most important man, than being in power. Command meant and, for me, still means responsabillity, for those that you command. A lot of people forget this, time after time, I could not forget, then, back at Stalag 13.
The most difficult decisions were made in the last days of the war, when people fought and died around us, while we had to sit back and wait, wait and do nothing but help men escape, knowing that our brothers, our friends were dying on the beaches of France, dying in the countries, yet to be freed.
Once in a while I had to play God, God for no man could accomplish everything we wanted. Still, I cannot find the words to express my grief to those families, who lost their sons, because we were not able to help them, to express my sadness at our unabillity to help the allied officers and soldiers alike, murdered during the last days of the war, when the end and freedom were so near.
For many it came too late, I survived, only because Klink was no Nazi, because Klink was one of a kind, because Klink was still alive, I am alive today, to tell the story of command, of grief, the burden of responsabillity and especially the guilt about being alive while more than 20 million soldiers, 17 million civilists were killed.
Why am I alive? Why me, while it could have been anyone else? Luck, pure luck. In the end, I was lucky to end up in a POW camp, especially, because this camp was Stalag 13. I cannot understand luck, nobody can, I guess. Luck jumps back and forth between people, leaving, when most needed and in the end, coming to the rescue. Luck and chance. I never liked those aspects of life, because they were never predictable.
Luck, chance and love. Love and admiration were what kept me and the others alive. Love, for each other, admiration for each others work.
I was Papa Bear, but I would not have been Papa Bear without the others. Remember that. Alone, you can do amazing things, but most things are done together, because two are one brain more than one.
I never wanted others to save my life while risking theirs. They did and in the end, I am grateful that they did. It is strange. People do not want to die, but less do they want others to die for them. This to is a way of love, I suppose.
A last thing I wanted to say is about ideologies. Those numbers I recalled in an earlier paragraph: 20 million soldiers, 17 million civilians. They are estimates, but they are but a number, but a representation of how large this war was. How many lives it ruined, how much suffering it made. And why? Because of the dream, the horrifying dream of someone, who cannot be considered a madman. No madman would act in this way, no madman would be systematic in the realization of his visions. It was even more dangerous than being mad. It was belief. Belief that his ideology was right, his belief the only thing worthwhile. All those people, children, adults were sacrificed on the altar of an ideology, not on the altar of madness.
Hitler was not mad, I don´t think so. He was „enlightened" by a vision and he pulled many people with him, like „leaders" all over the world do. Saying that Hitlers ideas were just mad is an underestimate of their danger, for it could happen again. Ideology is different from madness in the way, that madness can be recognized by people as not behaviour that is normal. An ideology has gone far beyond this point. It is an idea, that seems not only persuasive, but also attracting to some people and herein lies its danger.
In this persuasion, this deception of a massive amount of people lie the roots of fascism, fundamentalism and every other form of intolerance against other peoples views, lifes and nationality. Freedom of thought is one of the most precious things we have, remember this. Taking this away is no sign of a renewal of dignity, it is a sign of darkness spreading, of intolerance forcing its way into the hearts of people.
The claim, that sometimes a country needs a dictator to turn it into a democracy is not true, can never be true, because a government built upon a thirst for power and gain, built upon fear and oppression can never make the right decisions. A government, that imposes its system, its way of thinking on not only his own country, but extends this to other countries too, claiming to free them is as dangerous as a government led by a dictator.
Ideology is no solution. Ideology in the sense of a dogma is no solution I mean to say. Thinking and deciding is the way. Not voting is a way to give extremist minorities power, not thinking is a way to give extremist thoughts power. Democracy may not seem ideal at all times, but remember its the best we have. Other systems have not worked and will not work, we have seen from the past. I hope, sincerely that we can learn from this past, so that gas chambers, atomic bombs and gulags will never be put into work again
As much fun as war seems to be in the much commented television series, life was different then, and difficult as well. War is no joke and it is certainly not a movie. It is the most bitter reality.
Remember then, we and all the soldiers with us did not know, what was going to happen, lived in uncertainty about even our own future. Nobody could predict what would happen to the allied soldiers, when the allied forces were coming closer and closer. Nobody knew, how desperate the German leaders would be, desperate to kill even helpless POWs.
People say the Holocaust will never happen again, because it was a crime of the Nazis. Others say the Germans are to blame. Maybe Asians would say Europeans did it all. In the end, people committed these crimes, regardless of nationality. They were ordinary people like you and me, remember that.