After the chaos and confusion, threats and danger faced on land and sea in treks of hundreds and in some cases thousands of miles, who amongst the refugees could have imagined the cheers and applause which local people would greet those who finally made it by train to Munich. No dogs and lines of police, but smiling faces, candy and toys for children, order and a system to clothe, feed and house, and process for asylum. Austria too had opened its borders to let the multitude pass. This was all in sharp contrast to the chaos and harshness of Hungary’s performance, which has blackened its image across the world.
But Germany’s star is shining. It has done everything it can think of to atone for the horrors of WWII but it suffered a setback to its image because it chose to replace financial common sense with obduracy over Greece. Once again the question was posed about the hard heart that pulsed the blood of the German race. But all that is suddenly forgotten in the cheers and smiles of Munich as its people threw out their arms to welcome the exhausted thousands whom others had chosen to harass and shun.