European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 8, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 a the stars and stripes columns Ellen Goodman rewriting of history based on guilt not glory this is the y ear that making history finally became a daily event sort of like making Coffee. We got up in the morning put on the water and counted the number of governments or assumptions that toppled overnight. But making history it turns out is More than churning out dates for future students to memorize on their time charts. Making history is also and in tandem rewriting the past. In just a few weeks we be seen Europe updated and backdated with truths. Now Well find out whose truth will be etched not Only in history books but in the collective memory. East Germany s new democratic government began its future by admitting the country a guilt in the past. The old regime had blamed the holocaust on fascists but the new government apologized As germans a we feel sorrow and shame and acknowledge this Burden of German  the soviet Union stumbling out of its old Empire uttered the first admission that it Wasny to the nazis who killed the polish officer corps in the Katyn Forest during world War ii. It was the soviet secret police. These duly labelled a a historic confessions half a Century after the fact were not exactly news bulletins to the rest of the world. But it Wasny to the world s history they were rewriting it was their own. They were speaking about their past to their present making a fresh Start with a clean break. This is often an offshoot of current events. History changes hands As quickly As governments. The past is among the spoils that go to the victors. The new contenders for Power whether democratic or Royal stake their claims on history. But what is striking about the rewrites of the present year is that they Arentt based on glory. They Are based on guilt. Both the soviets and the germans Are promoting their own right to Rule their legitimacy on confessions of past wrongdoing. Charles Maier a Harvard historian compares this approach to that of psychiatry a when people enter therapy they have to remember. When regimes cleanse themselves they have to take on the task of remembering for the first time things that took place that they a like to  but guilt is rarely an easy sell. The Speed with which the soviets have disavowed stalinism and East germans reversed their teachings can Lead to a false impression. The same month in which the East germans apologized the japanese chose to avoid any mention of James j. Kilpatrick a Vns their country a aggressive role in their renovated memorial at Hiroshima. The a a aggressor a Corners wont appear in the memorials portrait of the suffering City. The same month in which the soviets admitted the massacre of poles the turks were still fighting their culpability in the death of up to a million armenians. The turkish resentment inhibited the Senate from making april 24 the official Day of armenian remembrance. If there is a difference Between countries there Are also differences within them. A government can Issue Mea culpa. But As Maier says in a deliberately a academic phrase the average citizen May prefer a not to be hassled by  West germans Are now saying a a enough to guilt about their nazi past. Since Ronald Reagan a visit to the nazi Graves at Pitburg says Maier a there Are people saying the holocaust was not that unique it happened in Many cultures. There is Comfort taken in the universality of dreadful  the most ardent government pronouncements May Bounce against the Public silence and the private denials. It May be therapeutic to admit guilt to the world but hard to admit it to your own children. This is True for Japan where schoolchildren learn More about aug. 7, 1946, than dec. 7, 1941. And its True in America where it took half a Century to make reparations to the Nisei who were interned Here during the War. Of course any current use of history is a Tricky business. In the most famous phrase George Santayana wrote a those who cannot remember the past Are condemned to repeat  but he did no to say How malleable the past is How often it changes hands. He never said which past a whose past a we were learning. Ultimately what is most important is not the sudden i am sorries but the willingness to use the past As a prod for a future Worth remembering. The Boston Globe newspaper company Only the . Taxpayer is truly in dire Straits it is always an amazing experience a a constantly recurring experience a to discover How Congress spends our Money. Lately the Senate has been considering the a dire emergency supplemental appropriations act of 1990.�?� prepare to be amazed. The thing is that a a dire is a $4.95 word. It has to do with events that carry a dreadful or terrible  a dire situation is a a a calamitous situation a desperately urgent situation a situation so terrifying that its remedy admits of no delay. Like what Well like an emergency appropriation of $500,000 from the fund for innovation in education. The Money would Quot facilitate training and technical assistance to Chicago a 5,400 newly elected school Council members a majority of whom arc  it is not Clear from a report of the Senate appropriations committee Why being a Parent is relevant but never mind a the committee has recently become aware of the urgent need for school councils to receive training in fiscal and personnel management leadership group process and other  this is a dire emergency How did it get to be dire the Senate committee makes marvelous recommendations and it makes them unanimously. Money will be shifted around so that a dire emergency involving the Franklin d. Roosevelt memorial May be met at once. Oregon a sen. Mark Hatfield explained that the latest design requires a a Little More grass and a Little less  to make these changes the designer desperately needs More Money immediately. So it goes. To be sure the pending Bill contains Many millions of dollars in supplementary appropriations that appear defensible. The committee recommends an additional $112 million for Relief of such disasters As Hurricane Hugo and the san Francisco earthquake. Apparently there is no Way of avoiding another $110 million to Complete the 1990 census. It is hard to object to $420 million for Panama and $300 million for Nicaragua for which the United states has a direct responsibility. A few other items Are genuinely  but downtown at the . Sentencing commission nothing is so visibly dire that it demands an immediate $700,000 in supplemental funds. The commission is marking time waiting upon the nomination and confirmation of three new members. No disaster is in sight. The committee recommends $100,000 a for the conduct of peace forums and charter development for the St. Regis Mohawk tribe of new  this has nothing to do with regulating Commerce among the Indian tribes. It has to do with soothing the ruffled feathers of tribal factions. Here is an item for you $1 million to fund a afield studies on repetitive motion disorders in the meat packing  these disorders Are no laughing matter but is the Quot further development of staff expertise so urgently critical that it cannot wait upon the regular appropriation process what the Devil is a income seduction it does not appear to be a typographical error. Under the Bill an additional $500,000 would be provided for the National commission on children to study a wide spectrum of issues relating to children a including health care social and support services education income seduction and tax  dire who says this is dire in july of next year a White House conference on Library services will be held. To meet a dire emergency the Bill appropriates $425,000 for a pre conference  this will fund regional meetings and governors conferences. The $425,000 will bring to $2 million the total available for such pre conference activities. Eventually the conference will Cost the taxpayers $5.4 million and it will keep a whole flock of intellectuals off the streets for the next 18 months. A Good thing too. How did Namibia get into the act the Bill earmarks $10 million a to support the newly established  the same amount is authorized for Lithuania a when diplomatic relations Are  there is something Here for Mozambique something for Uganda and All these millions of tax dollars must be spent now this instant everything is urgent evej7thing is of catastrophic necessity. All is dire. This taxpayer does no to believe it for a moment. For the most part the dire emergency supplemental appropriations act is a convenient vehicle for transporting expensive afterthoughts. Who a really in dire Straits Many an american taxpayer that a who. Universal press Syndicate the opinions expressed in the columns and cartoons on this Page represent those of the authors and Are in no Way to be considered As representing the views of the stars and stripes or the United states government