The Russian journalist told how he came out of his “bubble” and was surprised at how Germany reacted to the plane crash in Yeisk and the kamikaze attack on Kyiv.
In Yeisk (Krasnodar region of Russia) on October 17, a Su-34 bomber with full ammunition fell on a residential building. 13 people died as a result of the plane crash.
On the same day, Russian kamikaze drones attacked Kyiv, destroying a residential building in the center of the capital. Under its rubble, rescuers found the bodies of a married couple expecting the birth of their first child.
A few days later, Russian journalist Volodymyr Guriev, who lives in Berlin, discussed these tragedies with a local woman. And then he wrote a post on Facebook, which we quote with the author’s style preserved.
“I’m not sure if it’s helpful to get out of your bubble, but sometimes it’s refreshing.
a few days ago I was coming home and a familiar German woman met me. moreover, she has a rather explosive configuration: she was born in FRG, spent her youth in West Berlin right before the fall of the wall (it was the best, the best time, it’s impossible to even describe it), and then she married an American Jew and left for America. came back to Germany seven years ago, still can’t get used to it.
and she is like this to me: why are you so gloomy.
I tell her that as soon as the plane in Eisk flew into the apartment building, many people probably died, innocent people.
here she thought about it, clarified if it was Ukraine, and when I said no, she shrugged her shoulders and said that it was good that I was not flying to Ukraine.
I say wait, there are just people there, they have nothing to do with this, don’t you feel sorry for them?
and it turned out not particularly. in the morning she looked at the pictures from Kyiv – and there, my lord, there are innocent people – and she felt sorry. and the Russians – guilty, innocent, whoever – it’s not a pity because, he says, there’s not enough empathy for you and, frankly, it’s no accident, this plane didn’t just take off like that.
so here’s some karma for you right now, but don’t go away, there’s more.
I say, come on, you’re German, but Dresden and stuff?
but either she has not read Vonnegut, or she somehow already has a very good idea of the guilt of the German nation. in short, he says, well, about the same. clearly there’s no good in destroying dresden, but when you’re attacking the world for nothing, it’s pretty weird to be outraged by the way the world reacts. it’s a punishment. it’s a responsibility. and even the wine is not to blame.
it’s a reaction.
the innocents caught up in it were unlucky and if you think about it I’m sure they’ll regret it some day, but I don’t have the strength for it now, guess why and for whom.
frankly, you, he says, have screwed everyone up so much in six months that if tomorrow there’s a burnt field in place of your lovely country, or you go crazy and fly to Saturn, then the world will just breathe a sigh of relief and go back to business.
the next day she apologized for being tactless, but I am very grateful to her, it was an unexpected prospect for me. before that I perceived this story quite binary: there are those who hate all Russians indiscriminately, but there are also those who can distinguish a hostage from a soldier. it turned out that there is a third opinion, when the place of hatred is not taken by compassion, but by indifference.
not sure if it’s better but I don’t know how common it is, of course I haven’t done any research. maybe she is the same. although if I try it on myself I don’t know. it’s possible for me to say something similar about a country I didn’t grow up in. the forest is cut down, sawdust flies. if this forest was never yours then what can you do the world is cruel please give me a dopsot latte.
but overall, the uneven distribution of empathy across the planet is, of course, a fascinating thing.
yesterday I reread the comments on a post from years ago by a writer (a good one) who had the audacity to praise another writer (a bad one) for going to war—perhaps confusing the character of his post with Hemingway.
I wondered if even one person who wrote a supportive comment (well done to both writers) had changed their mind in those five years, but I couldn’t find one.
well, that is, people who lack empathy for everyone are generally enough.
alone I stand handsome in a white coat, but actually neither.
but this is me to the extent that perhaps the expression about the invisible tears of the world should be taken literally in our case, there would be less disappointment.
there are too many tears in the world, not enough for everyone.”
Photo of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine
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