I am bewildered by a German stamp I received. It features six elements: - 100 (pfennigs)
- Deutschland
- Europa
- 1945 Ende des krieges
- 1995
- a photograph of soldiers
I can't read the minuscule photograph. I am told it is a famous image, familiarity with its historical context would probably answer many questions. Are the soldiers German? Are they retreating? If so, why would the German government issue such a stamp?
It must be a cultural difference; I can't see the American government issuing a stamp commemorating the end of the Vietnam War. Americans wouldn't accept "USA fifty cents" underneath a photograph of a desperate mob trying to get on the last helicopter out of what was about to become Ho Chi Minh city.
Or maybe I can see such a stamp. After all, western capitalists have conquered Vietnamese communists after the former's military was defeated by the latter. Similarly, German businesses are succeeding where German armies failed.
Still, this is a disconcerting stamp. It's unsettling that World War II still has such resonance, even though it ended before most people alive today were born.
