APH - Geliebt

"Wir haben geliebt
Doch wir wussten nicht weiter
Wir hätten geschworen
Dass uns das nie passiert

So lange gesucht
Uns endlich gefunden
Doch dann ging verloren
Was uns beiden gehört
Uns blieb: wir haben geliebt"

PUR - Geliebt
[link]

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I did a lot of thinking while I was drawing this picture. I tried to understand, even if it's just a little bit, what our great-grandparents, grandparents and parents must have experienced during the World War(s).

I tried displaying these feelings through obvious and not so obvious details that are worth being discovered and to understand their deeper meaning.
Be it the imperial eagle, whose body has been ripped apart and is no longer able to fly, or the wounds that are only covering one side of Gilberts face.

It doesn't matter how often I'm confronted with this subject, whether it be in school or one of the many documentaries on TV, I'm always deeply affected by it, maybe because it's part of "our" history.
My grandma and the sister of my grandpa told me a lot about how life was during and after the second World War, that they lost relatives and friends, first through the battles and after that because their loved ones that survived were locked away behind a wall.

Because I'm a great fan of Hetalia, I'll research this subject on my own behalf, and I'm always touched by it. I really like the idea of Germany and the divison of the country depicted by Ludwig as West and Gilbert as East, and if you think about for a moment it is a very sad story. I don't have any siblings of my own, but I think if I lost a brother or sister in such a cruel way, to know they're still alive but not able to reach them... for me this would be a cruel and inconceivable punishment.

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Media used: Photoshop CS2

Characters by Hidekaz Himaruya
Art by ~Cowslip

NO USE WITHOUT MY WRITTEN PERMISSION