In Memoriam

Posted by Jew from Jersey
25 August 2023

Consider the two statues in the pictures below. Both have been erected as cenotaphs, yet note how different they are. The fact that one depicts a person of European descent and the other people of African descent is the least significant of the differences.

Rhodesian “Troopie” statue and war memorial (now relocated to private property in England)	Statue of the unknown soldier at Zimbabwe National Heroes Acre

The man in the picture on the left is sad. He is also dead. But he was once alive. Even if he is not of your race and could not have been your brother, husband, father or son, you might have known him. He might have been your classmate, neighbor, comrade in arms, or just someone you passed once in the street. There is nothing special about him, aside from the fact that he has made the ultimate sacrifice. And for this, he should be remembered, not as a hero or a role model, but as he was. He is owed that much. Rhodesia was not the freest of countries, but this is precisely how free countries honor their fallen.

In truth, the men of ZIPRA and ZANLA who died fighting against Rhodesia greatly resembled the troopie in the picture on the left, besides the fact that they were black. They too were just boys, most of them, caught up in the struggle of their time, trying to do what they believed was right. Yet the memorial in the picture on the right does not depict them at all. It doesn’t even depict real people. The people in the picture on the right are not happy or sad. They were never dead or alive. Even if their facial features are similar to yours, you cannot possibly have known them. This is not a memorial to the fallen, it is a government pageant. This kind of inhuman bombast is typical of a country lacking in freedoms.

And lest you think this is simply a cultural difference between European and African traditions: it is not. There is nothing African about the memorial in the picture on the right. It was designed by North Koreans. But there’s nothing Korean about it either. It was modeled to resemble the statues typical in the Soviet Union during the Stalin era. But neither is there anything Russian or Georgian about it; it doesn’t resemble the pre-communist artistic traditions of those countries either.

Maybe someday a future government in Zimbabwe will place the Troopie among his former enemies in National Heroes Acre. He probably respected them as men more than any present-day government does. So much will have to change. The west has stood down, but Africa has not yet stood up. Maybe some future century will be the African Century, but’s a long way between here and there.

Remember the soldiers who died, all of them.

Remember the men and women of the frontier, the lives they led that no one alive today can imagine.

Remember how rare and difficult it is for people of different races and creeds to live together in peace.

Remember how much work is required just to maintain everything you take for granted.

Speak up for the middle class.

Remember Rhodesia.

Lighter than eagles, mightier than lions, their memory eternal. Bulawayo Hebrew Congregation, founded 1894 (Thank you Bulawayo Memories for the photo)