In light of VE Day this week I humbly share a chilling 7-minute video shot in May 1945.

I was left contemplating three questions:

• Was post-conflict Berlin less chaotic than today’s post-conflict theatres?
• If so, is the difference cultural in its derivation or simply based on the sheer exhaustion of the survivors?
• What, if anything, can we take from the success of Europe’s reconstruction and apply to other nations emerging from ruined infrastructure and profound lack of resources? Syria? Iraq? Afghanistan?

While the footage below was shot with sound, the absence of narration creates a warranted philosophical space in which to form and internalise personal views.I found the final minute especially worthy of contemplation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5i9k7s9X_A