At first, it could almost be a Christmas card, a lovely snow scene in a handsome village, birds high in the frozen sky, colourful figures grouped in the square. You are standing on the threshold of another world, in another century, as you look at it.But look again, and it is clear that this is no feast-day. Dozens of faces are contorted with misery or rage. Others are frozen with callous indifference. But why? These emotions do not make sense. Yes, there are soldiers dragging pots and bundles from the arms of peasants, or killing livestock. But this plunder, unpleasant though it is, surely cannot explain the sheer woe that radiates from so many of these figures.
Look carefully. Where there is a bundle, or a jar, or a goose, imagine instead a small boy, either murdered or about to be murdered. In one appalling scene, the parents – who face old age with no son to provide for them – are begging the soldiers to take their daughter instead. The tiny girl, well aware of what is happening, is wailing in despair and misery. She will not forget. (Source: Daily Mail)
