Forget the Wehrmacht – Germany may soon have no army at all
How we laughed – about Theo, who swallowed a whole tube of toothpaste before his medical so he would be declared unfit for service; about the two sixth-formers who accidentally overslept on the day of their appointments to declare themselves conscientious objectors, and thus had to spend months in the barracks playing chess while the others watched porn films. Everyone moaned about national service, but as a source of anecdotes it was unbeatable.
Laughter is a way we Germans conceal our ambivalence about the Bundeswehr. Ever since the second world war it has been seen as good form for people on the left to be against the army, and therefore to object to national service.… Seguir leyendo »