Post #1 - Rites for the Forgotten

In the article, “Search for the Fallen in a Now-Quiet Forest” by Fleishman, it tells of a man named Kowalke who finds the lost bones of fallen soldiers from World War II. His life work is similar to the efforts of Sophocles’ Antigone. Both make it their priority to give burial rites to and honor the bodies of fallen soldiers. Although Antigone’s focus was more on the burial of her brother-traitor, I see Kowalke as finding the bones of all these lost Russian and German soldiers so that he may cope with the loss of his own father in the war. The article states, “the bones [he] collects honor his father.” (p. 235) In a sense, by burying each soldier, Kowalke buries his lost father each time much like how Antigone was able to put Polynices to rest.

But another aspect that truly relates Kowalke to Antigone is that he excavates both Russian and German soldiers near the town of Halbe despite the protests of locals. In this area outside of Berlin, thousands of soldiers from both nations died when the Russians attacked the Germans on this former battlefield. Thus, many Germans see the Russians as traitors. Regardless of this, Kowalke declares that “‘It doesn’t matter whether they’re Russian or German to [him]. The dead deserve a bit of honor.’” (p. 236) Therefore, according to Kowalke, honoring the dead has more priority over past politics. Now, he alone takes on the mission of speaking for the forgotten soldiers lost long ago and giving them and the loved ones they left behind peace.