Ian Fleming and Pearl Harbor

In August of 1941 Cdr. Ian Fleming was attached to the BSC - British Security Commission. In that capacity he brought over to the United States another British agent named Popov, a Yugoslavian by birth, but a Brit by citizenship.

Popov had earlier supplied information after the German disaster at Tarino on Sicily. In that attack, the British used carrier based aircraft to annihilate a good portion of the German fleet. The Japanese quickly sent over a team to assess the damage done, and, more importantly, try and get a better understanding of how the attack was mounted.

A month later Popov had information concerning the Japanese. They were requesting information from their local Hawaiin agents as to the strength and positioning of ships berthed at Pearl  Harbor, the progress of the channel dregding, the depth of all channels and anti aircraft capabilities.

This information, coupled with the earlier intelligence, were pretty good indications that Japan was going to attack Pearl Harbor. It was only a question of when.

This information became the property of J. Edgar Hoover at the FBI. He was not pleased with the Presidents directive that he share information with the British. He was a notorious Anglophobe, which is to say that he, like the Japanese Colonel Sato in "A Bridge Over the River Kwai", hated the British. So, this info was locked away in August of 1941, having been dismissed by the Director as "nonesense."

In reality he was disgusted with Popovs playboy lifestyle and had even told others on more than one occassion that he considered the Yugoslavian to "be a double agent, using German and American money to live like a degenerate playboy."

And thus was born that old story about how FDR knew in advance of Pearl Harbor and did nothing. J. Edgar Hoover told him it didn't matter. That was in August.

Kristallnacht - The Excuse Behind the Glass

Kristallnacht; like all things; has a beginning. We know the end result; the looting and burning of Jewish synagogues and businesses by ordinary Germans. These are the people who later said they knew nothing; kind of like Sgt. Schultz in the TV sitcom “Hogan’s Heroes”.

But the people doing the looting and burning that night were not in uniforms, and some may not have even really embraced the Nazi ideology. So how then did they wind up with bricks and bats in hand, smashing windows, looting and burning; beating people in the street who they merely suspected of being Jewish?

Many "reasons" have been manufactured over the years as to just what triggered Kristallnacht. Excuses have been invented to explain away the sudden outburst, which grew from something else which had been brewing. The following is the story of the actual incident which served as the spark which ignited Kristallnacht.

As it turns out, the incident; which served as that spark; took place only hours earlier, in Paris. It serves to remind us all that everything we do, no matter our intentions, must be undertaken with a look to the unintended consequences of our actions.

Kristallnacht was an abhorent display of hatred. Make no mistake about it, with or without this incident, the Holocaust which grew from it was going to happen anyway. This night was merely a taste of what was to come.

So, the following is not an excuse, nor an explanation. It's just the story of what happened in Paris which ignited the already noxious gas in the air that night back home in Germany.

Here then, is the story.

In 1938 the Germans began to deport Jews who were not born in Germany. “Germany for Germans!” was the cry. But there was a snag; the Jews being deported by the German government were refused entry back into Poland; which had not yet been conquered by the Nazi’s. That would be the next year. You have to marvel at the fact that the Polish people seemed to agree with Hitler’s stance against Jews, but when he conquered Poland one year later, he became evil incarnate.

Anyway, a Jewish man in Paris; Herschel Grynszpan, born of Polish-Jewish parents who lived in Germany; was outraged at the thought of his parent’s being involved in this game of political football. Moreover he decided to do something about it. His parents names were Riva and Sendel Grynszpan.

Taking himself to the German Embassy he asked to see someone; anyone. Now, that should have been a clue. But when you’re a member of the “master race” you don’t really think anyone is going to hurt you, so he was ushered in to see a low level attaché; a man named Ernst Vom Rath, who had spoken up in defense of the Jews before.  The young Jewish man living in Paris knew nothing about this German official and shot him dead.

Back in Germany the Brown shirts were grinning from ear to ear. Now the Jews weren’t only taking jobs away from the German people; they were killing them! They were killing them in foreign countries! They were killing even the moderate Germans who supported them! No longer could the people afford to wait. They must act now! They must send a clear and decisive message that the world would never forget.

Of course the irony is that; although the world would never forget; after the war was over you couldn't find a single person in that city who remembered where they were on the night of Kristallnacht. Like Sgt. Schultz; they knew nothing.

"The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" with Asa Butterfield and David Thewlis (2008)

This is a film about the unthinkable. This is also a very intense film; although not at first. It is only after the stage has been set that you realize where this film might be heading; and then, even when you do, there is still a doubt as to what will actually transpire.

An SS officer and his family move into a beautiful home somewhere in the countryside. The home is part of Commandant Ralf’s assignment as the commander of a German facility of some kind. That is al his son knows. There is a Jewish servant in striped pajamas who does all sorts of work about the house. His mistreatment at the hands of young Bruno’s father is the first clue that boy has that something is not quite “normal” about his new home.

Bruno; played by Asa Butterfield; is an intelligent little 8 year old with a precocious 12 year old sister named Gretel; played by Amber Beattie. She is mostly concerned with acting older than her age and is a very insensitive person; not at all like Bruno. Their mother, Elsa; played by Vera Farmiga; is more like Bruno. She is a sensitive and kind woman who doesn’t understand her husband’s hatred and fanaticism.

Bruno discovers a back wall to the house garden and this leads him to the edge of the wooded area surrounding his new home. What he sees when he emerges into a clearing puzzles him. It is a bleak looking collection of wooden barracks surrounded by barbed wire fencing. Inside are people who look haggard and worn out. Bruno spots a boy, about his own age, loitering by the fence. He is wearing striped pajamas, just as the servant in his home. His father has told him that these people are not human beings at all, and they are to be despised. Bruno approaches the fence and the boy, who is named Shmuel; played by Jack Scanlon; and the two become sort of friends.

One day Bruno comes home to find Shmuel in his home cleaning the crystal glasses. His fingers are just the right size for the work; which is the only reason he has been selected. Bruno is happy to see him there and offers him some of the food from the table. When his father’s aide comes in and sees this he is enraged. Bruno is too frightened and confused to admit that he gave the food to Shmuel, and the boy is taken away.

Days later Bruno meets him again at the fence and is shocked to see that Shmuel has been beaten. He apologizes for not owning up to his act of kindness, explaining that he was scared. Bruno forgives him and enlists his aid in finding his “missing” father in the camp. In a scene reminiscent of “The Prince and the Pauper” Bruno dons an extra set of pajamas provided by Shmuel and joins him inside the compound to look for the missing man.

As luck would have it the two boys are caught up in a group headed to the “showers”. At the same time as these events are occurring Bruno’s mother notices that he is nowhere to be found. Summoning her husband and his soldiers they look for the boy, only to discover open gate in the backyard wall leading to the compound.

As the search intensifies Bruno’s parents realize the possibility that he has entered the camp; prompting a furious search to discover him before the unthinkable happens. Sparse direction and incredibly underplayed acting make this film one which you will be thinking about long after the final credits have rolled.

Roman Vishniac - Photographer (1897-1990)

This artist is new to me. I say artist instead of photographer to call attention to the way he framed his shots.  Born in Russia he moved to Berlin in 1920 to escape the rising tide of anti-Semitism in his native country.  Maybe it wasn't the best of choices but had he not relocated when he did the world would have been cheated out of one of the best collections of photographs chronicling Jewish life in Germany before the Holocaust.

His 1983 book “A Vanished World” gave us only a glimpse of his vast collection of images. But now; through the International Center of Photography, the entity to which these images belong; all of his thousands of photos have been digitized and are available for viewing on line.

The importance of this project cannot be overstated. Millions of Jews were wiped out by the Nazi’s; and along with them all of the personal effects and photographs of a generation disappeared. But for the work of photographers such as Vishniac there would be no record of those lives left at all; which was the aim of the Holocaust in the first place. You could say that without these photographs Hitler would have scored a partial victory of sorts.

This collection encompasses all aspects of life in Germany before the Second World War; not just Jews. But that is the very beauty of the whole collection. The Jews pictured here are represented as having been a part of something larger than being Jews in Germany. They are shown as being an integral part of German culture.

Among the images of Rabbis and traditionally clad Jewish children there are pictures of the Nuns, the churches, the train station, the zoo; and just about everything else which together form a more clear picture of what life was like in the multi-cultural environment which was Germany before the Holocaust. It all looks so normal.

And that’s the point; abnormal horrors are often born quietly amidst the normalcy of daily living. We are often lulled into a state of apathy and unawareness, enjoying our lives without giving thought to the evils which lurk just beneath the surface.

These photos were digitized by Ardon Bar-Hama who was the man tasked with preserving the Dead Sea Scrolls in a like manner. But these photos; the importance of the Scrolls notwithstanding;  may be more relevant to our daily lives.

For more of these amazing photos go to the Roman Vishniac exhibition at;

http://vishniac.icp.org/

Marlene Dietrich - "Lili Marlene" - The Biography of a Song.

In the film "Judgment at Nuremberg", with Spencer Tracy and Marlene Dietrich, there is a song which plays in the pub scenes and alehouses. It is a wonderful melody, which belies the bleak surroundings of that bombed out city. It was also the one song which was most favored by the soldiers of both sides during the war. Ms. Dietrich used to sing this song on the Bob Hope tours. I often wonder how she must have felt, a German born star who had found worldwide fame in America, as she toured the bomb ravaged cities of her continent of birth.

The song itself was taken from an old German poem titled "The Song of a Young Soldier on Watch." It was written in 1915 by Hans Leip, who was a schoolteacher from Hamburg, and first recorded in 1939 by Lale Andersen under the title "The Girl under the Lantern".

It appears that the Germans first used this song when they occupied Yugoslavia in 1941, when Yugoslavia's "Radio Belgrade" became "Soldatensender Belgrad", tasked by the Germans with entertaining the German troops.

There have been many versions of this song recorded, both before and after Ms. Dietrich's, which was recorded sometime around 1943. But hers remains the penultimate rendering of this timeless classic. Maybe it's because she was completely anti Nazi and had been ordered by Adolph Hitler to return to Germany as far back as 1935. Her refusal to return resulted in her films and records being banned from the country of her birth.

When the war broke out and the USO tours began, Ms. Dietrich was one of the first to join up in an effort to entertain the troops. And "Lili Marlene" was a natural for her to do. It was German, as was she, and by doing this song, which was also being used by the Germans in their own propaganda; it was like kicking sand in the Fuhrer's face.

At any rate, her performance and recording of this song have made it synonymous with her name. Not a bad legacy at all.

If you are looking for an in depth history of this song you can do no better than this link;

http://280th-usasa-berlin.com/BA%20002%20101%20Lili%20Marlene.html

Note: These are the best translations of the song lyrics I could find. The poem was drastically altered from the original, yet still maintains its integrity. You will notice a great discrepancy in the lyrics, from artist to artist, depending on the various arrangements and styles of singing.

"Lili Marlene" by Hans Leip (altered for Ms. Dietrich about 1942)

Outside the barracks by the corner light,
I'll always stand and wait for you at night.
We will create a world for two.
I'll wait for you the whole night through.
For you, Lilli Marlene.
For you, Lilli Marlene.

Bugler tonight, don't play the Call To Arms,
I want another evening with her charms.
Then we will say goodbye and part.
I'll always keep you in my heart.
With me, Lilli Marlene.
With me, Lilli Marlene.

Give me a rose to show how much you care,
Tied to the stem, a lock of golden hair.
Surely tomorrow you'll feel blue.
But then will come a love that's new.
For you, Lilli Marlene.
For you, Lilli Marlene.

When we are marching in the mud and cold,
And when my pack seems more than I can hold.
My love for you renews my might.
I'm warm again, my pack is light.
It's you, Lilli Marlene.
It's you, Lilli Marlene.

My love for you renews my might,
I'm warm again, my pack is light.
It's you, Lilli Marlene.
It's you, Lilli Marlene.


(This is the original 1937 recording)

"Lili Marlene" by Hans Leip (Original 1937 lyrics)

Underneath the lantern,
By the barrack gate.
Darling I remember
The way you used to wait.
'Twas there that you whispered tenderly,
That you loved me,
You'd always be,
My Lili of the lamplight.
My own Lili Marlene.

Time would come for roll call,
Time for us to part.
Darling I'd caress you
And press you to my heart.
And there neath that far off lantern light,
I'd hold you tight,
We'd kiss good night.
My Lili of the lamplight.
My own Lili Marlene.

Orders came for sailing,
Somewhere over there.
All confined to barracks.
'Twas more than I could bear.
I knew you were waiting in the street.
I heard your feet.
But could not meet.
My Lili of the lamplight.
My own Lili Marlene.

Resting in our billet,
Just behind the line.
Even though we're parted.
Your lips are close to mine.
You wait where that lantern softly gleamed.
Your sweet face seems
To haunt my dreams.
My Lili of the lamplight.
My own Lili Marlene.
My Lili of the lamplight.
My own Lili Marlene.

And this is the translation of the original poem, from which the song was composed;

"Lili Marlene"(Semi-literal Translation of original poem)

In front of the barracks, at the large entrance gate
Stood a lamplight, and if it’s still standing there,
We want to see each other there again
We want to stand at the lamplight
As before, Lili Marlene, as before, Lili Marlene.

Our two shadows appeared as one
That we were so much in love, one saw immediately.
And everyone should see it
When we are standing by the lamplight
As before, Lili Marlene, as before, Lili Marlene.

The sentry had already called out: They are sounding curfew.
“It can cost three days.” “I’m coming momentarily, comrade.”
Then we said goodbye.
How much I wanted to go with you,
With you, Lili Marlene, with you, Lili Marlene.

It [the lamplight] knows your footsteps, your graceful walk
Every evening it is burning, but it forgot about me long ago.
If harm should come to me,
Who will stand at the lamplight,
With you, Lili Marlene, with you, Lili Marlene?

From the quiet place, out of the earthly ground
I am lifted as in a dream to your loving lips.
When the evening mist swirls in
I will be standing at the lamplight
As before, Lili Marlene, as before, Lili Marlene.

This post is for Eddie Ray.

Moondog - Jazz Great

If you were alive and living in New York City during the late 1960’s then you are familiar with Moondog, the blind Viking poet who wandered up and down 6^th Avenue (Avenue of the Americas) in the West 50’s. What many people don’t realize is that he had a name. Born Louis Thomas Hardin, Moondog was a presence felt not only by New Yorkers, but also by many of the stars and musicians who passed through the city.

Janis Joplin recorded one of his songs, “All Is Loneliness”, in 1970; and Charlie Parker, the legendary jazz musician, was the subject of his world renowned composition  “Bird’s Lament." Charlie Parker was known as “The Bird.” Moondog's  recording career spanned the years 1953-2005. He even cut an album with Julie Andrews. Much of this work was done while he was living in the streets.

Basically, Moondog, was born Louis Thomas Hardin on May 26, 1916. He is most remembered for standing around on 6^th Avenue in the West 50’s from about 1948 until the early 1970’s. If you meet anyone who claims to have seen him after 1974, then they are not telling the truth. That was the year he moved to Germany, where he pursued his art and music in a more serious manner.

He was blind, and a composer, musician and poet. He is even credited with having invented a couple of musical instruments. When he came to New York; sometime around 1944; he decided that he was going to live on the streets as much as possible. He did have a few apartments over the years; and was quick to accept temporary shelter when offered; but mostly he really did live on the streets around 6^th and 57^th.

His clothes were a self-styled costume of what many believe was Odin, the Norse God. We used to refer to him simply as a Viking. In all the years I saw him I never once saw anyone harassing him. And New York is a tough town! Mostly we spoke to him hoping for a reply, or even a poem. He actually composed music on a braille pad of some kind.

I have no idea why I started thinking about him about a week ago. I even posted a little thing about him on my Facebook page. I got just one comment. You have to be kind of special to “get” a guy like Moondog. You have to color outside the lines a bit to understand his thinking.

I once made the deliberate decision to live in a rooming house with a toilet down the hall in a rundown section of Baltimore for $35 a week. I had $20,000 in my pocket and more in the bank. I just wanted to experience life in that way. To me it was art.

For Moondog the streets were both his canvas and a balnk soundtrack; both needing to be filled in. He passed away in 1999. It’s a good thing in a way. I don’t think he would have liked the 21^st Century. Hell, I’m not even sure he ever accepted the 20^th.

For everything you ever wanted to know about Moondog, start with Wikipedia and then expand your search to include You Tube. There are a couple of good articles there just underneath of the videos.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moondog

And here is a sample of his music, “Bird’s Lament”;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSimbyS_YlA

"A Serial Killer in Nazi Berlin" by Scott Andrew Selby (2014)

This is the bizarre but true story of Paul Ogorzow, one of the world’s most infamous serial killers. It is also the story of the Nazi’s; arguably the world’s biggest serial killers; and their attempt to find him in wartime Berlin. Apparently it was an “It’s okay to kill Jews on a mass scale, but don’t mess with our women” type of mentality.

It took over two years to catch this monster, in large measure because the Nazi’s couldn’t be perceived as having been stumped by the perpetrator. At first he was considered to be a Jew; why not? But then, realizing that meant the regime was not able to keep the people safe from Jews and other minorities, they began to focus on the hunt for the real killer.

The only thing they had to go on was that all the crimes; which began as nuisance type of offenses; had escalated to rape and murder. The crimes had all taken place along one line of the Berlin train system, known as the S-Bahn. The killer lived in the area as well as worked there.

The blacked out streets of the “garden area” where half of the crimes occurred, were dark for the blackout necessitated by the Allies relentless bombing. It was literally pitch black, making identification almost impossible. The living victims could only describe a vague sort of uniform. Germany was rife with uniforms at the time so it could have been any number of people.

The main concern of the Nazi’s was that the women would be too frightened to report to their jobs at the factories where the munitions and other necessities of war were manufactured. Moreover, what were the men at the front supposed to think when they heard that their loved ones were not safe at home? Would they desert? Would you blame them?

All of these things combined to keep the news from reaching the public; until the killer shifted his modus again; this time to early Sunday mornings when it was still dark. The meager clues that the authorities had all began to take shape and form. They finally had a suspect.

In the end, absent any of the modern means of detection; and with scant clues to go on; this investigation boiled down to good, old fashioned detective work.  The author’s account of the final interrogation is reminiscent of the tension found in Poe’s “The Tell Tale Heart.”

Plainly written; almost too simply it seems at first; this book is a study of one particular case. But is also an insight to what justice was like under the local authorities in Nazi Germany. From all indications it was surprisingly normal if you were of Aryan descent. Paul Ogorzow was ultimately found guilty of the murders and sentenced to death by guillotine. This was a fascinating book.

   

"Into the White" with Stig Henrik Hoff, David Kross and Lachlan Nieboer (2012)

On April 27, 1940 two enemy planes; one British, one German; fought in the skies over Norway. They shot one another down and crash landed miles from anywhere. The Germans left their plane and spent the night in the snow. The British spent the night in their plane. What happened next is one of the most extraordinary set of events to arise out of the Second World War.

Within days of the shoot down, the two crews; 3 Germans and 2 Englishmen; find themselves vying for control of the same rustic hunting cabin. They must come to terms with one another and learn to work as a team or they will die. It’s that simple. Florian Lukas is convincing as the German Lieutenant Horst Schopis, and Lachlan Nieboer is equally effective as RAF Captain Charles P. Davenport. The two struggle at first to keep their respective subordinates in line, while struggling with their own doubts and fears.

 

At first tempers flare and the men all struggle for control of the 3 weapons which the German flyers possess. The balance of power shifts back and forth in this amazing and true story. The Germans have the upper hand at first, but as the captors they must provide for the captives. This grows old fast. And when the guns change hands the British flyers find that they cannot care for their captives as well as the Germans had cared for them; albeit unwillingly at first.

Soon, reality sets in and the men realize that they must discard their petty differences or they will never make it until the spring thaw. At this point they begin to understand the futility of the war they have been fighting and even contemplate remaining where they are for the duration.

When the Norwegian Patrol gets word that someone is living at the cabin they set off to capture the men; whom they believe to be German. When they find the two enemies living in harmony they are incensed. While they understand that the Germans had the guns they cannot understand why the British did not kill them when the guns changed hands. It appears that the British are going to be charged with collaborating with the enemy.

The Germans are led away to a POW camp for the duration, while the 2 RAF flyers are returned to duty, where they are shot down and imprisoned for the rest of the war. In 1977 Captain Davenport of the RAF called Lt. Schopis and invited him to London where the 2 former enemies finally became friends.

This movie is a real statement about war and human nature. Tersely directed so that you feel every moment of the cold and indecision, the film invites you to think about the difference between blind duties and simple humanity. That is a bold statement in and of itself.

"The Flame Keepers" by Ned Handy (2004)

One of my favorite Christmas movies has always been “Stalag 17” with William Holden. Though not considered to be a holiday film by most, the film does take place the week before Christmas. I always felt it offered somewhat of a real life peek inside of a POW camp. And in some respects it did just that. But, overall no movie can ever really capture the horror of being a Prisoner of War. When that film was made into a TV comedy called “Hogan’s Hero’s”, the bar between reality and what these prisoners actually went through was further blurred.

Imagine my surprise at finding this book in the stacks at the Mooresville Public Library in North Carolina the other day. Written by Mr. Handy in 2004 this book sets the record straight once and for all about Stalag 17. It wasn’t just a Broadway play, or a Hollywood movie, or even a TV show. It was years of hell for the men who lived through it; a hell they would never forget; though some would push it back further in their subconscious, only to have it come back to the forefront and haunt them years after the fact. Such was the case with Mr. Handy.

The film, written for the screen by director Billy Wilder and Edwin Blum; was originally a play by Donald Bevan and Edmund Trzcinski. It is uncannily similar to this book. Where the film has a character named Animal, this book has one named Beast. There is also a fellow from Brooklyn and a few other recognizable characters who will remind you of the movie. This actually makes the whole thing immensely readable. It does not diminish, in any way, from the intensity of what Mr. Handy experienced. Rather, it heightens the experience as you have an immediate connection with the characters from having “seen” them before.

The men in Mr. Handy’s barracks decide to escape; and after obtaining permission from the barracks coordinator; actually dig a tunnel which connects to an abandoned storm drain. The book is an invaluable insight into what life was like for the thousands of Army Air Corp prisoners held by the Nazis all throughout the war.

The book is also an invaluable insight into the mind on one man; and those around him; and how they coped, or did not, with their long imprisonment. New ways to think and dream, as well as remember, become crucial to survival. The author makes this discovery early on in his ordeal, reinforcing the notion that the key to one’s freedom really does lie within.

Note: Mr. Handy, and his story, are featured in the Bonus Materials on the re-released version of the film "Stalag 17". I watched that part of the DVD for the first time last night after finishing this book.

The Night of Broken Glass

Growing up in Brooklyn, New York in the 1950’s and 1960’s was like growing up in the shadow of the Second World War. To know about the Holocaust is one thing, but to live amongst people who were affected by it; either by a friends family members, who were left behind in Europe and never made it through the war, or the many survivors; or refugees as they were known; who bore the blue inked numerical tattoo affixed to their wrists, was quite another. That tattoo identified them as survivors of the death camps, and these persons were revered, as they had looked death squarely in the eye and lived.

Today is the 75^th anniversary of Kristallnacht, or the “Night of Broken Glass”. This photo shows the shock and fear on the faces of the little boy and his mother, prompting me to wonder if they were Jewish. Most likely they were not; as any sane person of Jewish heritage would have been indoors when this photo was taken after the first night of killing and burning had ended. But shock and fear know no ethnic boundaries, and these 2 people may just be reacting to the world having gone mad; seemingly in an instant; although the storm had been gathering since about 1933. Like Katrina in New Orleans, most people hoped the big storm would never arrive, changing everything.

The toll from the Night of Broken Glass was written up in terms of how many buildings destroyed, how many lives lost and the like. But all of those figures can never do justice to what was really lost in that night of Nazi fueled hatred. The 267 synagogues, stores, and homes destroyed that night at the direction of the Nazis, along with the vandalism of 7,500 Jewish businesses, and the killing of almost 100 Jewish people were just the tangible portion of the damage.

The events of November 9-10, 1938, while police and firemen stood by and watched; or turned a blind eye; signaled the selling of the German soul. And the judgment for that would be severe.

Kristallnacht marked the point of the Third Reich in which vulgar political rhetoric became vulgar acts of criminality. These acts would grow into the largest attempt ever made to annihilate any particular group of people. And that is the point of marking this grim anniversary. In our country today, we have so many hate groups, all engaged in violent and inhuman rhetoric. And that’s how it starts. With a bit of talk, leading people to become jaded in the face of veiled racism and prejudice.

And, what happens later, when it all spirals out of control? You wind up walking down a street scarred by once seemingly innocuous words; windows broken and holding your child’s hand in fear for the loss of everything you have ever known. Especially your own self-respect.

"A Little Piece of My Heart" - Live - 1969 Germany

I was very pleasantly surprised to find this on You Tube, my favorite place to hang out. All of the other “live” versions I have heard of this classic song by Janis Joplin are really hard to listen to. She is either too stoned, or the band is way out of tune with one another. The Jefferson Airplane had the same problem. I always called it the San Francisco sound. But this version, live from German television in 1969, just one year after the songs release, really shines.

Ms. Joplin is often portrayed as being way out of touch with her career, being “led” by handlers and promoters. Nothing could be further from the truth. Ms. Joplin was in firm control of both the direction of her career, as well as the material she chose to record, right up until her death.

A quick listen to her original “demo” of “Me and Bobby McGee” by Kris Kristofferson will confirm my assertion. She merely arrived at the studio, whipped out her acoustic, and played the song the way she felt and heard it. Here is the link to that “demo”;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-o2kURk-YtU

With the new tribute show, "A Night with Janis" making the rounds, it's quite a treat to watch the real thing from the archives of my old friend You Tube.

Post World War Two In Photos

German Wehrmacht General Anton Dostler just prior to his execution by a firing squad in Aversa, Italy, on December 1, 1945. The General was sentenced to death by the United States Military Commission in Rome after having ordered the shooting of 15 unarmed American prisoners of war on March 26, 1944.

Two Allied prisoners pack their meager belongings, after being freed near Yokohama, Japan, on September 11, 1945, by men of the U.S. Navy.

This is the interior of the courtroom at the Nuremberg War Crimes Trials in 1946. This photo was taken during the Trial of the Major War Criminals. Hermann Goering, leader of the Luftwaffe, is seated at center right, wearing a gray jacket, and dark glasses. Next to him sits Rudolf Hess, Deputy Fuhrer of Germany. Goering committed suicide the night before his execution. Hess was sentenced to life imprisonment, which he served at Spandau Prison, Berlin, where he died in 1987.

This photo was taken in Hyde Park, London in September of 1945. Among the aircraft were some of the new jet and rocket propelled planes. This is a side view of the Heinkel He-162 "Volksjaeger", which was powered by a turbo-jet mounted above the fuselage.

This is the view on deck of the ship General W.P. Richardson, in New York, teeming with veterans of the European war returning home on June 7, 1945. 

This is a portion of Levittown, New York in 1948 shortly after the mass-produced suburb was completed on Long Island in New York. These type of tract homes would become the symbol of the American Dream in Post War America.

And this is what Europe looked like after the war. It was a far cry from Levittown. This photo shows General Charles de Gaulle shaking hands with children in July of 1945. The town of Lorient was the location of a German U-boat base during World War II. Between January 14 and February 17, 1943, almost 90% of the city was reduced to rubble by Allied bombing.

For the full collection of photos and more information about each of the photos, please go to;

http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2011/10/world-war-ii-after-the-war/100180/ 

"Elihu Washburne" by Michael Hill (2012)

Some of the greatest heroes are often the ones you have never heard of. Their deeds go without laurel; sometimes confined to the trash heaps of history. But for author Michael Hill, such could have been the fate of Elihu Washburne, America’s Minister to France at the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War in the late summer of 1870. The following fall and winter brought shortages of food and fuel to the city of Paris, and people there were reduced to eating cats and dogs, even their own horses, in order to survive.

In the midst of all of this turmoil and suffering, only one foreign Minister remained at his post; Elihu Washburne, an American of poor origins who was the recipient of much ridicule when he took the post offered him by President Grant. Before the crisis in the winter of 1870, no one could have guessed at the degree of fortitude he possessed. But, given the chance, he proved them all wrong.

The Franco-Prussian War grew out of France having remained neutral during the Prussian invasion of Austria in the late 1860’s. Their aim was to create a German Federation in Northern Europe, something they would try on a much larger scale in the coming 20^th century. Napoleon III was not prepared to engage in a war with Prussia , and his policy of appeasement failed. Prussia invaded France in 1870. During this conflict, our Minister to France was the only foreign dignitary to remain at his post. And not only was he able to do that, he was also able to get 20,000 Germans civilians out of Paris; where they were in extreme danger. In addition he was able to keep several hundred more German citizens under the protection of our Embassy, even sharing his scant supply of food with them.

During the nearly 300 days of war; with the Prussians led into battle by their own Monarch, King Wilhem I, along with his military adviser Otto von Bismarck; Paris was under siege from August of 1870 through January of 1871.

The author has taken the diaries and journals of Elihu Washburne and crafted them into a highly charged and readable account of what it was like to be in the City of Light when the darkness of war took over. There were many heroes, and also villains, at work during the siege. Using the diaries of Minister Washburne; as well as drawing from the cables of American Secretary of State Fisk; the author draws a complete picture of a very principled and dedicated diplomat caught up in a storm for which he was unprepared, yet acquitted himself with valor.

With an emphasis on the causes of the conflict, Mr. Hill has given us the background necessary to understand the events leading up to the siege. In doing so he has also supplied the reader with new insights into the causes of the First and Second World Wars. But, more importantly, he has highlighted the actions of a single man caught up in a maelstrom, and through it all, gave his best.

"You Nazty Spy" with The Three Stooges (1940)

Charlie Chaplin always gets the credit for satirizing Adolph Hitler in his film “The Great Dictator”, particularly the scene in which he does a ballet with a globe. We were on the verge of war with Germany when his film was released, but before the war even began, there were others who saw the insanity unfolding in Europe, and lampooned it for what it represented. There were very few who were willing to tackle the “elephant in the room” before the war began. Even the Marx Brothers; who were Jewish; didn’t tackle Hitler with “Duck Soup” until after the war began. No one did; except for the Three Stooges.

In this, one of the most outrageously funny anti-Nazi films, the 3 Stooges, who; just like the Marx Brothers, were Jewish; fight the battle for freedom with one of the best weapons known to mankind; ridicule. When seen in the light of humor, all bullies look small and foolish. When the spotlight of humanity is cast upon them, they shrink from the large ogres which they would have us believe them to be, becoming objects of mirth instead.

This is great political satire from the legendary Kings of Slapstick.

____________________________________________________________

New York City Police Officer Helps Homeless Man

Any words here would be superfluous.

"Peace On Earth" (1939)

Okay, getting back, as promised, to some seasonal cartoons, this one was released around the time that Germany invaded Poland, which marked the beginning of World War Two. The memory of the First World War was still fresh in everyone's minds in 1939, and this cartoon carried a very clear message about the ravages of war and the associated consequences. Beautiful animation, and clear, crisp sound quality make this cartoon a real pleasure to watch. From it's opening number, "Peace On Earth", this is a perfect cartoon for the season. Grab the grandkids for this one!

Shifting Borders In a Changing World

In a world of constantly shifting borders it is often difficult to trace family lineage back through the destruction of the two World Wars that marred the 20th Century, especially in Europe. Throw in Russia's 70 year foray into Communism, along with these shifting borders, and you can run into a real puzzle!

When William and Esther Marcus left Poland for America around 1911, they left Poland. When the Russian Revolution was over and the First World War had ended, the borders had shifted. The same thing happened in the Second World War and then again later, when the Soviet Union collapsed in the late 1980's.

So, over the years I have been descended from Poles/Russian/Poles. And that's just on that side of the family! My second cousin, Jana Marcus, has done a lot of research on this and come up with a new twist. We have another family member we were unaware of, who died in infancy back in Poland in 1902. Here is a part of the e-mail I received yesterday about this new discovery, with some other background info thrown in;

I wanted to share with you some new family history I have discovered.

As you know, William and Esther were from Kishinev (Chisinau), Moldava.

I did some extensive research in the Moldava marriage and birth
records through Jewishgen.org. I found three exciting things:

1. The name of the village they came from in Kishinev is Rashkov

2. William and Esther had a child we didn't know about! Rivka Marcus
was born in Kishinev in 1901, and died on June 8, 1902 of a cerebral
infection. She died a baby, but was born before Minnie and Sophie.

3. I found William and Esther's marriage record. Married in 1895 in
Kishinev, Esther's "old world" maiden name was Saganovskaya. Her
father was Yosef Saganovskaya. This led me to a search for
Saganovskaya, and I discovered the following:

Yosef Saganovskaya, son of Pinkos Saganovskaya, was born abt. 1848
in Gaysin, Vinnitsa, Ukraine. He had three children:

Avrum Saganovskaya
Jankel Saganovskaya
Esther Saganovskaya

Avrum Saganovskaya married Rakehl Edya and had the following children:

Pinkhos Saganovskaya ( b. 1894)
Yankel Saganovskaya (b. 1896)
Sura Sarah Saganovskaya ( b. 1899)
Sheyndlya Saganovskaya ( b.1904)
Yosef Saganovskaya (b. 1907)

Jankel Saganovskaya ( wife unnknown) had one child that I could find:

Shlioma Saganovskaya (b.1900)

Noticed how many children were named Pinkhos and Yankel or a variation of...interesting, uh? So, we have gone two more generations on Esther's side!

Happy trails to you all,
Jana
--
Jana Marcus Photography
www.janamarcus.com

With this new information, Jana has established my family tree as far back as the 1840's on the Marcus (maternal) side. The Henkin side of that tree is shrouded in mystery with no one left to tell the story. And anyway, I like the mystery better, as it probably trumps the reality.

On my paternal side, we have information and Census forms dating back to the 1850's for the Burke's (my Dad's maternal side), and on the Williams' side we can trace our roots to the mid 1800's in Wales and England.

I never get tired of this stuff. The past is where we all come from and a large piece of who we are and where we are headed. Eventually we are all going to come around to the realization that we are all related. That doesn't mean we are going to love one another in the blink of an eye. But it is the beginning of becoming aware that we are all truly connected in one way or another. So don't judge your neighbors too harshly - you just might be related...

"Shanghai Diary" by Ursula Bacon

This is, quite simply, the most unusual account of the Holocaust ever penned by one of it's survivors. Though never a victim of the concentration camps, the author's story is yet another chapter in the long list of lives uprooted and forever changed by the war. Only, this story is a bit different. Beginning with the authors luck at having been born into a solidly middle class, secular, German Jewish family, and being able leave Germany just in time, let alone being able to stay together and make a life for themselves in the least expected of places, this story is nothing short of a miracle.

The most striking thing about this memoir is that Ms. Bacon was about the same age as Anne Frank during the war. But that is where any similarities in their lives end. Ms. Bacon, as I have said, was born into a solidly middle class German Jewish family. They were secular in their approach to religion, and like many Jews here in America, they even celebrated Christmas. As Hitler's noose began to tighten, the family made plans to leave. But they waited too long, not believeing that any of Hitler's threats would come to pass. And so, in 1939, after having waited a little too long, they were finally allowed to leave, taking with them only the clothes on their backs. And from this point on, the book takes a remarkable turn.

It has not been widely written about, but there was a thriving Jewish refugee community in China, notably in Shanghai, during the Second World War. They numbered about 20,000 or so, and the story of how they came to be there is as remarkable as the lives they built for themselves while in Shanghai.

The author was an only child. Her father was a printer before all the madness began. Their lives were upper middle class, with the author having a nanny and a tutor. But all that changed when Hitler came to power in 1933, and with the increasingly hostile environment towards even secular Jews rising out of control, the family was forced into exile. They initially left home by rail for Breslau, where they boarded a train for Genoa. From there they caught a German ship to Shanghai, China. This would be their home throughout the war.

Speaking no Chinese, and even less English, her parents were somehow able to tap into the refugee community, where they receive their first "housing." In a disease ridden slum dwelling the family resolves, within days of landing there, that they can, and must, do better if they are to survive.

With the help of a Chinese acquaintance, Vati, the author's father, is able to go into the painting business, where he does quite well, employing several men and always keeping busy. He puts all his money in the bank, where it will be safe. Meantime, his wife, Mutti, begins to sew and hem garments, even taking in work from women who can't finish a sweater after they have begun. Before long she has quite a pile of American money, which she keeps in an old stocking of the author's. She makes enough money that she eventually needs two stockings. Though the family teases her about her mistrust of banks, her decision proves to be a wise one when all the banks in Shanghai fail after the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor.

While all of this adult drama is going on, the author, who is 10 when the book begins, is growing up; and writing it all down in the 4 diaries which were given to her as gifts when the family left Germany. The diaries cover the years 1939- 1947, when the author was between the ages of about 9 and 17. Ms. Bacon, who was already studying English and French while in Europe, speaks English well enough to give lessons to the 3 "sisters" of General Yi, a local warlord who was fighting to retain control of his fiefdom, while at the same time attempting to repel the Japanese. The "sisters" were really concubines, and they taught the author many things that she probably shouldn't have known. And to keep up her education, her parents sent her to the best school available, a Catholic School. I told you this was an unusual book!

The family did have problems though, particularly in the last years of the war, when provisions became increasingly hard to come by. The Japanese were also a constant threat as they waged war in China. For some obscure reason, perhaps dating back to the Sino-Russian War of 1900, the Japanese never really went out of their way to signal out Jews for extermination. Perhaps they were just too busy killing everyone, to signal out any one group. But somehow the family escaped most of the ravages of the war, finally emigrating to the United States in 1947.

This book is a delightful surprise, concerning a usually dismal subject, but it carries a lesson. We make our own circumstances, at least to some extent. We are victims only to the depths to which we allow ourselves to be driven. This family was lucky in many regards, but still, they had to find a way to avoid falling into that despair which often accompanies the loss of home, friends and family, never to return to the place in which you were born. A very unusual book about a very unusual time and place, no picture of the Holocaust can be complete without this unique history.

"The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler" with Anna Paquin and Marcia Gay Harden

Not since "Schindler's List" has a film dealt with the Holocaust, in particular the Warsaw Ghetto, in such a moving and realistic manner.

This story is true, taken from the book "The Mother of the Holocaust Children" by Anna Mieszkowska. It is the stuff of fiction, only this is real. A social worker in Warsaw, outside of the Ghetto, working under the noses of the Nazi's, smuggled out 2,500 Jewish children before the final destruction of the Ghetto.

Utilizing various means, including wheelbarrows, Ms. Sendler is able to place these children with Christian families, who will raise them until the end of "the madness." As an employee of the Warsaw Social Services, Ms. Sendler had unlimited access to the Ghetto in Warsaw. When rations in the Ghetto are slashed to 300 calories per day, per person, she recruits all of her fellow co-workers into a scheme to smuggle food into the Ghetto. When she decides to rescue the daughter of a friend, an idea is born.

Eventually suspected and then arrested, she is subjected to brutality and torture in an effort to locate the children she has smuggled out. These names have been carefully recorded along with the names of the families who took the children in. This information is kept in a Mason jar and hidden. The penalty for all parties to this crime is execution. No trial, just execution.

When Ms. Sendler is about to be executed, along with her co-workers, she is spared at the last minute and sent off on her own to hide. One of the men involved in the plot to save the children has her taken away from Warsaw and hidden. Before she goes into hiding she passes the jar along so that the children can be returned to their families.

The most moving part of the film comes at the end when Ms. Sendler, who passed away in 2007, is shown on camera commenting on the importance of returning these children to their families. She delivers, in Polish, the most beautiful statement about the pain of both sets of mothers. The birth mothers who were seperated from their chidren, some forever, as well as the Christian Mothers who raised these children for almost 5 years and then had to return them to their rightful families, both suffered enormously. And both groups displayed extraordinary courage.

A powerfully written and directed film, this story, much like "Schindler's List", is the story of human beings at their best, even in the midst of the worst. A stunning film.

"The Wolf" by Richard Guilliatt and Peter Hohnen

World War One was the last war which was fought with any "civility." The story of the Christmas Eve Truce in 1914 comes to mind. That was when the soldiers in the trenches began singing Christmas Carols and slowly emerged to share with one another, food, wine and photographs of loved ones. Several hours later they went back to killing.

But of all the stories from the Great War, the one that has always fascinated me the most was the story of the German Raider "Wolf." This was an ordinary freighter disguised as a neutral ship. She would plow the seas, making a 64,000 mile journey in search of ships to seize. The ships were emptied of anything that the Germans could use, the passengers and crew were taken aboard Wolf and the other vessel sunk.

The German Navy, after her stunning victory at Jutland in 1916, would be largely absent from the remainder of the war. The new submarines, or U-boats as they came to be known, were doing all the "heavy lifting" while the fleet remained in and around German waters. This was an extreme frustration to German Naval Officers, who finally hatched a plan.

This plan was mainly the idea of Captain Karl Nerger. He oversaw the upfit of the "Wolf", including large tanks for storing fuel. It was his intention to never touch land until his return to Germany. His voyage would last 444 days and take his ship to all corners of the world. She sailed, and prevailed, in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans, seizing coal and provisions from all she encountered. By the end of the voyage she was carrying 400 prisoners. Some of these were men, women and children taken off the merchant vessels.

Being so long at sea there was some interaction betwen crew and prisoners. There were even some romances. There was also a "split" system for holding prisoners. After the first vessel is seized and sunk off San Francisco, the Captain of the stricken vessel along with his wife and daughter, are given a private cabin that had been the home of 2 Officers. But as the ship becomes increasingly crowded, things change. Captured ships crews are held below decks in deplorable conditions, while above deck the Officers and wives of the Merchant ships are treated well.

Laying mines and running British blockades are two more of the many perils which give this book the suspense and edge that keep you reading. Just one more page....

When the ship runs aground off of neutral Norway enroute home, things become chaotic. The neutral countries refuse to help her off the sandbar. They also refuse to help her with anything that might violate their own neutrality. This sparks an international political crisis. The passengers/prisoners are finally released and the ship eventually does make it back to Kiel. The followups on the various principals in this story are very intersting as well. Written in an easy and engaging style, this book will give you quite a ride into the past.

While the nature of war never changes, the nature of the people who fight them does. That is the sad lesson I have taken from this book.

"Daring Young Men" by Richard Reeves

The Berlin Airlift was one of the most heroic and campassionate undertakings in the history of mankind. If you are unfamiliar with this great episode, then this book is a wonderful place to start. Mr. Reeves has, as usual, bought history to life in this tale of the chess game that took place between the United States and Russia in the summer of 1948.

Russia was essentially blockading Berlin in an effort to gain control of it. The Allies, led by the United States, were equally determined to keep at least half of Germany free and democratic. The story of what made the airlift necessary in the first place is carefully examined here.

The currency crisis, which came about when the German Reichsmark was replaced by the new currency, caused people to panic buy whatever was left on the shelves, whether it was edible or not wasn't the point. The fact that the money would be worthless made buying garbage an attractive proposal.

All of our seasoned combat troops had already been sent home, replaced by inexperienced 19 year olds who did not really want to be there. And the Russians knew this. They were counting on it. Truman was even advised by his Generals to abandon Berlin. His reply was a terse, "We are staying in Berlin. Period."

The resultant airlift had to feed 3 million people per day a diet of at least 1700 calories a day. How we did it is fascinating. Why we did it is inspiring today when we still have millions of peolple starving in portions of the world, even as we pay farmers to not grow food. Truman said something else that has always stuck with me, "The only thing new is the history you don't know." I wish the leaders of today's world would read this book.