War, what is it good for?

This popped up on my FB feed the other day.  It would appear that 70 years ago this weekend the Allied troops were making their way through Germany, en route to Berlin, driving back the German forces as they went and coming through sleepy little Kettwig along the way.
 
This ground offensive had, of course, air cover, and it seems that some of the American bombers were a little too enthusiastic and fired upon a group of 3,000 enforced labourers who were possibly trying get as far away from Essen as they could.  Over 40 of these innocent people were killed and many more injured.  What is more poignant though is that only one person could be named.
 
70 years to the day of this tragedy, the Polish Konsulgeneral and the local Oberbuergermeister laid wreaths at the memorial. 
 
I might joke about mentioning the war and getting away with it, but the sad fact is that when it is mentioned Germans tend to refer to it as ‘dieses dunkle Kaptial’*, and memorials to the war dead are few and far between – it really is a piece of history they are glad is way behind them.
 
 
 
*this dark chapter.