#heer

[jenny-pudintane]

Trying the front side, we'll see. Enjoy while it lasts

[deutschland-im-krieg]

WW2 German small arms and man portable anti-tank weapons

[nocternalrandomness]

A Bell UH-1D operated by the German Army photographed while lifting off from Marche-en-Famenne Military Base in Belgium

[theworldatwar]

German soldiers surrender to US forces on the outskirts of Metz, France - Nov 1944

[karagin22]

[chaandkideewani]

ohde jehi main te oh mere warga, hans da aye sajra savere warga

ankhaa bandh kar laa te thande hanere warga

[happilyaloof]

Who is Laila? Who is Tara, or even Heer? They are not put in a story, to play their role of a lover, turning their lovers against the world or his family. They are not supposed to be conscious of the importance of their part in the bigger picture of Imtiaz Ali’s final thought. I don’t think so. They are not meant to know the mysteries of what lies on the other side of these questions or even be intrigued by these questions. Why?

Because they are beautiful metaphors of the utmost innocence, beyond and above anything ‘worldly’ we have to put up with, to survive.

And when Imtiaz Ali brings together a Qais and a Laila, it is not to create another Raj and Simran but to shake Qais’ or Ved’s world into disorder and bring to him those same questions of what lies “Pahad ke uss paar’’ or what is even the need of that Pahad? Laila, the metaphor, is his way to the answer and sometimes, she IS the answer.

Imtiaz Ali may provide different plots, ambitions, backgrounds; only to ditch the mundane and the superficialities of society, for ‘’…what you love and let it kill you’’ (Charles Bukowski). His philosophy resonates with me and since I am someone who deals with those existential questions day in and day out, I have the greatest urge to be the male character in all of his films.

Jordan in Rockstar holds Heer’s hand and walks her towards the field, away from right and wrong.

Ved in Tamasha finally breaks free from what limits him, with Tara as his guiding Star.

It was when Qais becomes Majnu (Urdu for mad), I knew why I chose to watch Laila Majnu after all these years of its release. I know the kind of effect these philosophical dramas have over me. I am all about the reaction that he gives in one noteworthy scene where he is talking to himself, leading to him getting hit with a stone and starts bleeding. He runs and he laughs. He is celebrating. He felt the rush, he was alive. His love was finally seen! He did not have to hide who he was anymore from anyone for the sake of this illusion of a world, now that he knows Laila is ‘real.’ The blood and the pain being the proof that he was not mad. He had his world in his Laila, walking with him all along, everywhere.

[peipurr]

sometimes I love to think of how the Generalfeldmarschalls are just .... human. beneath their military personality and after all the atrocities they may have done. and no, this isn't me justifying the n4zi's horrendous crimes, but sometimes I just think that people who wrote books abt them need to see that side of them too, like okay their military was great but c'mon, let's not forget about their interesting personality!

and some of the facts I often think are:

that my precious baby Model was a member of literary society during his youth excelled in Greek, Latin, and History (and some also say in Poetry — I wonder if he ever wrote a poem).

Von Leeb loved to collect stamps!!! and very fond of his family's chronicles.

There is a story in the Keitel Family that Wilhelm almost went to tears when he gave up his hope to become a farmer in order to stay in the military to support his family.

Von Reichenau was fond of German literature and classical music. He brought to the battlefield in the Polish campaign a small volume of a selection of German poetry.

Von Rundstedt loved detective thriller books but was shy to show it. He regularly read the novel in an open drawer which could be quickly closed whenever anyone came in to see him.

Rommel and Schörner's rivalry. David Irving wrote: "One of Schoerner’s frequent pranks was to plant silver cutlery from the mess in the pockets of guests at formal banquets and watch their embarrassment when the spoons and forks fell out. Rommel, when it happened to him, was not amused. Their rivalry persisted to the end. It was generally friendly, and once, after Schoerner had made a name for ruthlessness bordering on brutality in the Crimea ... Rommel solicitously took him aside and candidly urged him to try a different method."

Von Bock seemed to be very fond of boys —not in the negative way. In Sudetenland, he once "took his twelve-year-old son, dressed in a sailor suit, along in his car "to impress on his son the beauty and exhilaration that lie in soldiering."". In 1940, he sent a postcard to the same son, Dinnies von der Osten. Also, one of Fedi's last wishes to von Manstein was that he should take care of the 16 year old Dinnies after his death, which Erli did until his capitulation. Not that it matters, but Dinnies was not his biological son. It was his second wife's son from her previous marriage. I think it shows how much Fedi cared for the boy. Then, his diary entry on 8/9/39: " ... I was able to present the first Iron Cross of this war to a Private First Class of the 94th Regiment who acted bravely at Graudenz. The young man beamed; too beautiful these lads!". He's just ... adores his troops (and youngest stepson) so much :')

Wolfram von Richthofen always found studying language to be painful. His foreign language grades were either a borderline pass or an “unsatisfactory.” And "he was a somewhat indulgent father. When he returned home during the war years, Jutta would relate some minor misbehavior of the boys and ask that Wolfram, as their father, discipline them. Wolfram’s reply was usually something on the lines of “boys will be boys” and “they’re good kids—let’s give them a break.”". Then, Wolfram once described the Luftwaffe as “the army’s whore”.

Von Manstein's writing is something else. Even if he did lie about the breakout order in Stalingrad, I still enjoyed his memoirs, to be honest. His words are beautiful, the way he tells a story and the allusions — I got the impression that he was a highly educated person by reading Lost Victories.

Also, von Küchler and Busch's rivalry (which was bitter, unlike the Rommel-Schörner's one), which unfortunately I couldn't remember which book explained that and couldn't find it yet :(

Sources:

Hitler's Generals - Edited by Correlli Barnett

Generalfeldmarschall Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb: Tagebuchaufzeichnungen und Lagebeurteilungen aus zwei Weltkriegen

The Memoirs of Field-Marshal Wilhelm Keitel: Chief of the German High Command, 1938-1945 - Edited by Walter Görlitz

Same as 1

Lost Victories by Erich von Manstein

The Trail of The Fox by David Irving

Generalfeldmarschall Fedor von Bock: The War Diary, 1939-1945 || Manstein: Hitler's Greatest General by Melvin Mungo || World War: The Three Vons (Time Magazine, August 18th, 1941

Wolfram von Richthofen Master of The German Air War by James Corum || Stopped at Stalingrad: the Luftwaffe and Hitler's Defeat in The East, 1942-1943 by Prof. Joel Hayward