Seeing past the poppies and balloons

IT may be no more than a turn of generations.

Not too far back, Britons returning from combat in World War II displayed a stubborn reticence about their experiences. In Germany, too, there has been a struggle to answer history’s questions: not just “What did you do in the war?” but what did you do after it, particularly if you lived in East Germany in thrall to Communist rule and the Stasi secret police.