Jewish Sensibilities & the Commemoration of Heroes

By Max Musson:

As a boy, I used to enjoy reading stories of heroism and daring do on the part of British servicemen and women and British military units during past wars, including both the First and Second World Wars. Furthermore, I have always regarded it as important that current generations remember the sacrifices of past generations, especially those who gave their lives in the service of our nation and I believe that material both marking and celebrating our fighting heroes is very important in giving young people especially, a sense of pride in our nation’s history.

Had I not during adulthood learned to the contrary, I would have assumed that all nations would have published material of the kind described above and that all nations would have had the opportunity to both celebrate and mourn with pride the sacrifices of their brave servicemen and women.

In Berlin, there are a number of World War Two memorials, but these are Russian war memorials mourning the Russian dead and celebrating the heroism of the Russian forces involved in the capture of Berlin in 1945. Furthermore, probably the most prominent memorial in Germany associated with World War Two is the ugly Holocaust memorial occupying a four-acre site in the centre of Berlin.

If one Googles ‘Berlin War Memorial’ the search bar automatically defaults to ‘Berlin Wall Memorial’, a memorial to the Berlin Wall, which for many years separated East and West Berlin, and to the ‘Berlin Holocaust Memorial’ referred to above.

Several years ago I was also surprised to discover that Germans do not officially mark Armistice Day as a day of remembrance as we do in Britain, out of a fear that such remembrance, celebrating the courage and sacrifice of their fallen heroes might be interpreted as a glorification of that country’s Nazi past. Instead Germans mark ‘Volkstrauertag’, on the Sunday closest to 16^th November, a day of sadness for all those who died in war or as a result of Nazi oppression.

German boys of my generation were therefore effectively denied the opportunity to draw inspiration from their father’s and grandfather’s generations in any official manner, although in 1957 a former Luftwaffe officer, the writer Bertold K. Jochim, launched a magazine called ‘Der Landser’ (The Squaddie), which publishes the true stories of German fighting heroes, including those of World War Two.

In order to avoid contravening Germany’s draconian anti-Nazi legislation, ‘Der Landser’ studiously avoids any mention of the word ‘Nazi’, avoids depicting swastika emblems, and similarly avoids any content that could be construed as ‘anti-semitic’ and many of their stories come with a disclaimer reminding the reader of the horrors of war.

The company which publishes ‘Der Landser’ is now owned by the Bauer Media Group, one of the few sizeable media companies not under Jewish ownership and over the years, Bauer have also acquired two other similar publications, ‘

Geschichte & Wissen’ (History and Knowledge’) and ‘Militär & Geschichte’ (The Military and History), which both feature articles detailing the exploits and celebrating the heroism and sacrifice of Germany’s military.

Sadly, Jewish groups have begun a campaign to force Bauer to discontinue these three magazines, thereby attempting to deny future generations of Germans the facility to draw inspiration from their nation’s fighting heroes.

In a letter to the German government in February, Abraham Foxman, director of the Jewish American pressure group, the so-called, ‘Anti-Defamation League’, aired his concerns about all three publications, which he claims have commemorated Adolf Hitler, his deputy Hermann Göring and also the propagandist Leni Riefenstahl.

Foxman said: “The Bauer Media Group’s publications may be within the letter of German law, but they may also be seen as legitimising the Nazi regime.”

He added, “Any glorification of the Nazi regime is simply unacceptable.”

Furthermore, the Jewish Chronicle reveals that Bruce Fireman, a lawyer representing Jewish Groups here in the UK, has urged the media watchdog Ofcom to stop Bauer acquiring broadcast rights for a UK radio station due to its distribution of the magazines. Apparently he said Bauer Media Group was not “fit and proper” to run stations under the Absolute Radio umbrella.

A spokesperson for Bauer has responded arguing, “Bauer Media … voluntarily submits the issues of the magazine to examination from a press law perspective. The company attaches great importance to ensuring that the magazine neither trivialises nor glorifies Nazi crimes.”

It is sad that Jewish groups feel the need to act in the way they do because, irrespective of one’s views on the truth, accuracy or otherwise of the Holocaust narrative, these Jewish groups are effectively seeking to penalise the post war German generation and future German generations for the ‘sins’ of their mothers and fathers and it must be obvious to any objective observer that such action will do nothing but provoke further anti-Semitism in the future.

The Berlin Holocaust Memorial referred to above could have provided a focus for reconciliation between Jews and Germans, but it is instead the clearest example of Jewish groups ostensibly intent on preventing further anti-Semitism, but with an insatiable desire for revenge, effectively ‘shooting themselves in the foot’.

The memorial consist of 2,711 large, plain, dark-grey concrete slabs arranged in rows covering an area of more than 4 acres in the middle of the main tourist district of Berlin. Visually it is ugly, it fails to adequately convey it’s purpose and its form is such that it will invite inappropriate behaviour and will almost certainly cause increasing resentment among future generations of Germans. It is like the Treaty of Versailles formed in concrete.

The memorial is little more than an act of monumental vandalism, representing a desire to permanently disfigure the German capital, thereby inflicting collective punishment upon generations of Germans who took no part in the Holocaust. It is the equivalent of punishing someone who has wronged you in the past, by cutting his daughter’s nose off and then expecting that relations between you and that old enemy will be good thereafter.

The construction of a Holocaust memorial in Berlin was an opportunity to draw a line under the horrors of World War Two and to establish a mood of reconciliation and forgiveness for past enmities and past hatreds.

For example a monumental statue in the style of Arno Breker, of a German soldier kneeling in contrition would have conveyed a sense of national sorrow for the atrocities committed in their name that present and future generations of Germans might have been happy to embrace without resentment. Such a statue might have allowed future generations of Germans to happily exhibit their collective contrition with a degree of pride in the beauty of the memorial itself. But such an opportunity was missed.

Many of the millions of tourists to Berlin each year will pass the memorial by assuming it to be either an incomplete building site or an out of place builders merchants yard.

Had the memorial been constructed as I have suggested, it would be aesthetically pleasing and would therefore attract the attention of passers by. Furthermore, having attracted the attention of passers by, it would convey a visual message that would be readily understood in any language.

On the day I visited the memorial, I found a number of tourists picknicking on top of the concrete slabs apparently unaware that they were desecrating a memorial to the dead. It is only a matter of time before rebellious teenagers are tempted to perform more disrespectful and lewd acts either upon or between the stones. In a city notorious for its lack of public conveniences, it is almost certain that some thoughtless young people, making their way home after consuming much beer, will find it a convenient place, out of sight between the stones, to urinate or worse.

The short sightedness of Jewish organizations regarding these issues is regrettable and clearly the result of hubris stemming from too much political power having become vested, post-war, in the hands of a vexatiously over anxious and vengeful minority. Instead of demonstrating enlightened self-interest through consideration for the feelings and normal healthy instincts of younger Germans, Jewish groups have behaved as if no action on their part, no matter how petty or vengeful can be considered too much.

As I documented in an earlier article, there is a desire among younger Germans for a reappraisal of the Second World War and Germany’s part in that war. There is also an increasing feeling that the atrocities of that war should now be consigned to history and should not be constantly relived and used as a weapon with which to shame and humiliate generations who were not even alive at the time and who played no part in them.

The ‘Identity Generation’ have come to pass and in common with children everywhere else in Europe, it is time that young German boys and girls were once again allowed to feel pride in and draw inspiration from the heroism of their forebears.

By Max Musson © 2013

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Additional articles that may also be of interest:

Unsere Mütter, unsere Väter — A review of the ground breaking mini-series following the lives of five friends and charting their experiences during WWII.

Generation War – Our Mothers, Our Fathers — Announcing the broadcast in the UK of the hit German mini series Unsere Mütter, unsere Väter.

My Little Heart (Mein kleines Herz) — A review of the song sung by Greta from ‘Unsere Mütter, unsere Väter’.

Who Started the Bombing of Civilians in World War Two? — A review of the book, ‘Bombing Vindicated’,  by J.M. Spaight showing that the Germans were not the first to initiate the bombing of civilian targets.

Rochus Misch – the Last Survivor from Hitler’s Bunker – A transcript of an interview with Rochus Misch who was the last survivor from Hitler’s World War Two Berlin bunker.

Das Buch — Discussing the recent surge in interest and sales of ‘Mein Kampf’.

The Liberation of Auschwitz –A review of the mounting controversy surrounding the alleged war crimes committed at Auschwitz during World War Two.

Treblinka – The Forensic Examination Fails – A review of the forensic examination of the Treblinka concentration camp site by Caroline Sturdy Colls.

Der Landser – Discontinued – How Baur Publishing have been pressured into discontinuing the publication of Der Landser thereby denying German youth the opportunity to appreciate the heroism of their forebears.

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