History Misremembered

These sentences are taken from "English as She is Taught", a collection of answers given by American schoolchildren, published 1887. The whole thing is available in various formats here. These are simply the ones I liked best.

Longevity
Alfred the Great reigned 872 years.
Elijah was a good man who went up to heaven without dying and threw his cloak down for Queen Elizabeth to step over.
Luther introduced Christianity into England a good many thousand years ago. He was once a Pope. He lived at the time of the Rebellion of Worms.
Julius Caesar is noted for his famous telegram despatch I came I saw I conquered.

Technical Terms
Greece is divided into periods.
The history of Rome is wrapped in antiquity.
The Middle Ages come in between antiquity and posterity.


Animals in History
Gorilla warfare was war where men rode on gorillas. [Wishful thinking?]
The Celts were driven out of England into Whales.
Queen Mary married the Dolphin.
The only form of government in Greece was a limited monkey.


Personalities
Columbus knew the earth was round because he balanced an egg on the table.
Benedict Arnold was greatly regretted by the Americans as well as by the English.
Rufus was named William on account of his red hair.
The Britains conquered Julius Caesar and drove him ignominiously from his dominions.
Cromwell was only a parallel with Bonaparte.


Did You Know..?
The Puritans found an insane asylum in the wilds of America.
The Habeas Corpus Act said that a body whether alive or dead could be produced in court.
Slavery was caused by the admission of Missouri into the Union.


Floundering (or How to Answer a Question with no Information)
William Penn was born in Boston in 1607. He was the first white man who founded Pennsylvania. He founded Pennsylvania because his name was William Penn.
Gen. Washington is famous for the Washington Monument.

America's Tragedy: Third Reich Perceptions of the United States

I love it when a plan comes together...

In a development which I feared would never actually take place due to my usual scatty and disorganised state of operation, work which I've done for this blog is going to form part of my soon-to-be-completed but largely-not-written-yet Masters dissertation. The topic can be roughly summarised as 'Third Reich perceptions of the United States' - hopefully it will explain how positive and negative views were reconciled in the minds of the general public once it became clear that Germany and America would be at war for a second time. Kurt G. Sell's Worüber man in Amerika spricht, which I've posted passages from before (see tag list) makes an appearance, alongside six more or less similar books. You can expect a smattering of translations from these to appear over the next few weeks, whenever I'm avoiding doing the more important work on the dissertation itself.

The following argument is taken from Menschen Wie Wir? Ein Amerikabuch für Europäer (Berlin, 1943) by Edmund Fürholzer, who I still no next to nothing about. The aim of his 400-page book is to explain why, when the US benefitted from the hard work of German immigrants and the support of German politicians, they are nevertheless prepared to go to war against Germany. In his words, Americans 'share our blood but not our spirit', 'us' being the Europeans. So whose spirit to they share? A soulless, materialistic pairing of Anglo-Saxon and Jewish, passed down from the Pilgrim Fathers.

Obviously I don't agree with any of the following, this is a translation of something I think is insane*.

From its first beginnings, the state of New England was anchored in an Old Testament mindset. State and religion were one, and there was no going back. The more it became clear that running the state along biblical lines would be impossible, the more fanatically the Puritans clung to the illusion; America's tragedy began to run its course. Intellectual Phariseeism and empty form replaced the original heroic spirit. The attempt at transplanting the Jewish Old Testament state into the Christian seventeenth and eighteenth century was doomed to failure. [...]

Der Staat Neu-England war von seinem ersten Anfangen an in den Gedankengängen des Alten Testamentes verankert: Staat und Religion bildeten eine Einheit. Es gab kein Zurück. Je stärker die Unmöglichkeit einer altbiblischen Staatsführung offenbar wurde, um so fanatischer klammerte sich das Puritanertum and den Schein; die Tragödie Amerikas nahm ihren Anfang. An Stelle des ursprünglichen heroishen Geistes trat intellektuelles Pharisäertum und tote Form. Der Versuch, den Judenstaat des Alten Testamented mit seinen Gesetzen und Anschauungen in das christliche sibzehnte und achtzehnte Jahrhundert zu verpflanzen, mußte scheitern.

We can see from looking at some of their laws and customs just how closely the Puritans followed the letter of the Bible.: They called themselves “the Christian Israel“, they spoke of their emigration to America as the „flight of the children of Israel“. Their god was Jehovah, their constitution was in line with the laws of Moses. In place of the Christian Sunday came the Jewish sabbath. The boys were circumcised. The Puritans took their festivals from the Old Testament. The self-righteousness and hubris of old Judaism ran in their veins. Whether to absolve themselves from mistakes or to justify their very unchristian conduct towards colonists of other beliefs, they always had an apt Bible quote to hand. [...]

Wie stark die Puritaner sich nach den Buchstaben der Bibel richteten, ersehen wir bei Betrachtung einiger ihrer Gesetze und Sitten: Sie nannten sich ,,das christliche Israel“; von ihrer Auswanderung nach Amerika sprachen sie als der ,,Flucht der Kinder Israel“. Ihr Got war Jehova, ihre Verfassung war den Gesetzen des Moses angepaßt. An Stelle des christlichen Sonntags trat der jüdische Sabbath. Die Knaben wurden beschnitten. Die Feste entnahmen die Puritaner dem Alten Testament. Selbstgerechtigkeit und Hybris des alten Judentums gingen ihnen in Fleisch und Blut über. Sei es zur Beschönigung ihrer eigenen Fehler oder zur Rechtfertigung ihrer sehr unchristlichen Handlungsweise gegenüber andersgläubigen Kolonisten - stets hatten sie ein passender Bibelzitat zur Hand.

Oliver Cromwell, the greatest of all Puritans, celebrated his victory over Ireland, which he depopulated with inhuman cruelty, turning it into a land of pestilence and hunger, with the words; „And now we ask ourselves: who has completed this great work? It was not done through our power; God the Father delivered it to our hands.“ Jews as the chosen people of the Old Testament and England as the chosen people of the New Testament; these become one in Cromwell's words. It should therefore come as no surprise that he allowed England's Jews to travel freely to the transatlantic colonies. It was strictly forbidden for the island's Catholics to settle in the New World. [...]

Oliver Cromwell, der größte aller Puritaner, feierte seinen Triumph über Irland, das er mit unmenschlicher Grausamkeit entvölkert und zu einem von Seuchen heimgesucht Hungergebiet gemacht hatte, mit den Worten: ,,Und nun wllen wir uns fragen: Wer hat dieses große Werk vollbracht? Nicht unsere Macht war es; Gott der Herr hat sie in unsere Hände gegeben.“ Juda als das auserwählte Volk des Alten und England als das auserwählte Volk des neuen Testamente verschmolzen in Cromwells Worten zu ein und demselben Begriff. Daher kann es auch nicht wundernehmen, daß er den Juden Englands die Auswanderung nach den transatlantischen Kolonien freigab. Den Katholiken der Insel war die Ansiedlung in der Neuen Welt strengstens verboten.

The resistance of other protestant religious communities failed due to the Puritanisms heavy political clout. They were English to the full; the common belief in an Anglo-Saxon divine calling proved a unifying bond, even in the face of bitter contradictions in the application of dogma, all taken from the same Old Testament. The most radical political course cut through all ecclesiastical differences; in the end Puritanism was able to claim for itself leadership of the New World's Anglo-Saxon church state. This attitude outlasted the colonial period, going on to determine the public life of the United States in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It was the spirit of Judaism which American Christianity adapted itself to. [...]

Der Widerstand anderer protestantischer Religionsgemeinschaften gegenüber der Neu-England-Richtung scheiterte an der stärkeren politischen Durchschlagskraft des Puritanertums. Engländer waren sie alle; der gemeinsame Glaube an eine göttliche Sendung des Angelsachsentums erwies sich als einigendes Band, selbst bei erbitterten Gegensätzen in Auslegung der Dogmen, die alle auf dem gleichen Alten Testament fußten. Die radikalste politische Richtung setzte sich gegenüber allen kirchlichen Differenzen durch; schließlich behauptete sich der Puritanismus doch als Führer des kirchlich-staatlichen Angelsachsentums der Neuen Welt. Dieser Geist überdauerte die Kolonialzeit und bestimmte in neunzehnten und zwanzigsten Jahrhundert das öffentlichen Leben der Vereinigten Staaten. Es war der Geist des Judentums, dem sich das amerikanische Christentum assimilierte.

The racial Jew arriving in America really did find the Promised Land. He did not need to adapt to new conditions, as instead the foreigner had assimilated to his beliefs, his thoughts, and his behaviour.

Der nach Amerika kommende Rassenjude fand tatsächlich das Gelobte Land vor. Er brauchte sich nicht neuen verhältnissen anzupassen, sondern die Fremde hatte sich von selbst seinem Wesen, seinem Glauben, seinem Denken und Handeln angeglichen.

(Fürholzer, pp.30-2)

*Shouldn't need saying, but this is the internet and some people aren't big on context

A Nazi-Era History of Hamburg

... Not that you'd really know, for the first three quarters of the book. And I was looking very closely for signs of fanatical revisionism because these 80 page volumes from Christmas 1941 come with a “get well soon” message from Hamburg Gauleiter Karl Kaufmann - a name which by rights should be as infamous as Goebbels, Goering and Himmler.

"Get well soon" message

It briefly describes Hamburg’s development from a small, dependent settlement on the Elbe, to a wealthy, independent merchant city, to Germany’s largest harbour and gateway to the world. At no point does it mention the contribution of Jewish merchants to Hamburg’s prosperity but then it doesn’t mention Jews at all. Apart from taking the side of the Saxons against Charles the Great, Hamburg’s earlier history is dealt with in the same brief, upbeat, “didn’t we do well” manner you find in most local museums.
There are some facts about Hamburg’s prominence after the French Revolution which might not stand up to scrutiny; apparently, all of England’s trade with mainland Europe ran through Hamburg, and it was this English connection that dragged the ever-neutral Hamburg into the fight against Napoleon, in which they suffered the worst treatment imaginable. Then we hit the World War One, in which Hamburg allegedly proves its loyalty to Germany and shares in its cruel treatment at the hands of its opponents:

The historical development of our city could easily create the impression that Hamburg had placed her own interests over those of Germany. However, we must not overlook the fact that it was only through this political independence that the Hamburg’s inner strength of purpose, enterprising courage, tenacity in the face of set-backs, and flexibility in the conquering of new markets could develop, and could blossom among Germany’s ranks. The successful utilisation of these qualities for the city simultaneous meant service to the interests of Germany; Hamburg’s profile in the world was Germany’s vindication, Hamburg’s economy was the German economy. The fact that Hamburg, despite all her international connections and despite the various points of contact with foreign ways and customs, remained truly German at heart, is proven by the inscription on the memorial columns in Adolf Hitler Square: “40 000 sons of this city gave up their lives for you!” (p.62-3)

Der geschichtliche Werdegang unsere Stadt könnte wohl den Eindruck erwecken, als ob Hamburg seine eigenen Interessen über die Deutschlands gestellt hätte. Es darf aber nicht übersehen werden, daß sich nur in dieser politischen Selbständigkeit die den Hamburgern innewohnende Tatkraft, der Mut zu großen Unternehmungen, die Zähigkeit bei Rückschlägen und die Geschicklichkeit bei der Eroberung neuer Märkte entwickeln und in den Zeilen der deutschen Zerrissenheit ungehindert entfalten konnten. Der erfolgreiche Einsatz dieser Kräfte für die Stadt bedeutete aber gleichzeitig Dienst an den deutschen Interessen; denn Hamburgs Ansehen in der Welt war Deutschlands Geltung in der Welt, Hamburgs Wirtschaft war deutsche Wirtschaft. Daß der Hamburger trotz aller internationalen Bindungen und trotz der vielfachen Berührungen mit fremdlündischer Art und Sitte in seinem Kern echt deutsch geblieben ist, beweist die Inschrift an der Gedenksäule am Adolf-Hitler-Platz: ,,40 000 Söhne dieser Stadt ließen ihr Leben für euch!”

This paragraph shows one of the problems that more extreme nationalists faced in Germany. The aims of independence and unity had mostly been achieved but people’s identity was (and to some extent is) bound to their city or region. This must have been especially strong in Hamburg - the most successful of the old hanseatic cities - which had fought so long for independence from outside interference and restrictions, and which was very international in its outlook. This combination of weak internal ties and strong international ones meant that, similar to their Italian counterparts, the Nazis had to work hard to create a sense of the whole of Germany standing shoulder to shoulder against the rest of the world.

Front cover

And so onto the next chapter, dealing with the First World War and its aftermath:

Hamburg’s decline
The development of the German state ran almost parallel with the proud developments in Hamburg. The kingdom which had been created in Versailles in 1871 had become a great power, whose flag flew over all seas, whose hard work had led to the creation of her colonies, and whose highly-valued industrial wares were gladly bought in all the world’s markets. It had also become a military power, with a decisive voice in Europe.
The rise of the state, whose glory sadly hid here and there bitter political and social injustice, was viewed as increasingly dangerous by other world powers. They were working on a plan of war against Germany.
The shot in Sarajevo, hardly thought to be significant at first, was the decisive signal. Within only a few weeks almost the whole globe stood in arms against Germany. The state marched into the greatest war in the whole of history. At one stroke, all the life which had given Hamburg its face died out in the city. Hardly a single ship left the harbour. The trade fleet floated in long lines against the quayside, was interred in enemy ports or stayed in neutral harbours.
Large and small ships served as support vessels. Many sank under fluttering flags of war. Life in the shipyards continued regardless. One after the other, battleships grew on the Helligen [?*]. Men and women stood at the lathes, in order to supply the fighting front with granades.
However, a hunger blockade lay around Germany like an iron belt. Women and children were becoming paler. Hunger was found everywhere in Germany and Hamburg. The Hamburg Regiment, the 76th Infantry regiment, had gone to the front in the very first days of the war. In difficut battles it had bled for the great empire. [...] Then came, whilst the front was still standing, Germany’s most shameful hour: revolution in Germany. (p.64-7)

Hamburgs Niedergang Mit Hamburgs stolzer Entwicklung fast gleichlaufend war die Entwicklung des Reiches gegangen. Das in Versailles 1871 entstandene Kaiserreich war zu einer Großmacht geworden, deren Flagge auf allen Meere wehte, die mit Fleiß sich der Erschließung ihrer Kolonien widmete und deren hochwertige industrielle Güter auf allen Märkten der Welt gern gekauft wurden. Es war außerdem eine militärische Macht geworden, die in Europa ein entscheidendes Wort mitzusprechen hatte. Der Aufstieg des Reiches, hinter dessen Glanz sich allerdings hier und dort bittere politische und soziale Ungerechtigkeit verbarg, ward in den Augen anderer Großmächte für diese immer gefährlicher. Planmäßig arbeiteten sich auf einen Krieg gegen Deutschland hin. Der Schuß von Sarajewo, zuerst kaum gewertet, war das entscheidende Signal. In wenigen Wochen stand fast die ganze Erde gegen Deutschland in Waffen auf. Das Reich zog in den größten Krieg der Geschichte aller Zeiten. Mit einem Schlag erstarb in Hamburg alles Leben, das ihm bis dahin sein Gesicht gegeben hatte. Kaum ein Schiff mehr verließ den Hafen. Die Handelsflotte reihte sich in langer Linie an den Keimauern, war in feindlichen Häfen interniert oder lag in neutralen Häfen. Große und kleine schiffe taten als Hilfskreuzer Dienst. viele sanken unter wehender Kriegsflagge. Das leben auf den Werften aber ging unentwegt weiter. Kriegsschiff auf Kriegsschiff wuchs auf den Helligen. Männer und Frauen standen an den Drehbänken der Fabriken, um der Kämpfenden Front die Granaten zu liefern. Um Deutschland aber legte sich wie ein eiserner Gürtel die Hungerblokade. Frauen und Kinder wurden bleicher und bleicher. Der Hunger ging um in Deutschland und Hamburg. Das Hamburger Regiment, das Infanterieregiment 76, war in den ersten Kriegstagen schon nach dem Westen gegangen. In schweren Schlachten blutete es für das große Reich. [...] Dann kam, während die Front noch stand, Deutschlands schmählichste Stunde: Revolution über Deutschland.


Again, no mention of Jews or even weak liberals, and no resort to stabbed-in-the-back imagery. These are all elements I’ve been taught to expect from Nazi propaganda dealing with the end of the First World War, and they are all conspicuously absent.
Back to the text, and the “revolution”: Workers begin to demonstrate in Hamburg, stirred up by outsiders but also by anger; their wives and children are starving, their politicians have betrayed them and they are effectively disenfranchised by Hamburg’s class-based voting system. All of these things apparently make life easy for Marxist agitators. Hamburg’s soldiers return to find a “town beset by choas and hunger, wailing masses and incompetent leaders.” (p.67: aufgewühlte, hungernde Stadt, lärmende Pöbelhaufen and unfähige Führer. Die vierzigtausend Söhne der Stadt schienen umsonst gefallen zu sein.) Hamburg in the hands of the workers doesn’t provide much work, though the author also refers to international reasons for the crisis:

Hamburg becomes a national-socialist city
The heart of Hamburg, the harbour, and its life-blood, the ships, showed how Germany’s largest harbour was dependent almost exclusively upon trade across the globe. The decline of the world economy hit Hamburg hard, doubly so, as it was quite clearly shown in this and later years just how senseless the demands made by our opponents in the World War were.
Thousands and thousands lost their jobs, ship after ship was chained up in Walterhofer Harbour, machines rusted, factories fell into disrepair, life expired again in Hamburg. Year after year passed by, and each held less comfort than the last. (p.72)

Hamburg wird eine nationalsozialistische Stadt Hamburgs Herz, der Hafen, und sein Element, die Schiffe, zeigten, wie sehr Deutschlands größter Hafen fast allein abhängig war von Handel und Wandel in der Welt. Der Rückgang der Weltkonjunktur traf Hamburg schwer und hart, traf es doppelt hart, da sich in diesem und in den späteren Jahren erst richtig zeigte, wie sinnlos die Forderungen der Weltkriegsgegner waren. Tausende und tausende wurden erwerbslos, Schiff am Schiff wurde in Walterhofer Hafen an die Kette gelegt, Maschinen rosteten, Fabriken verödeten, das Leben erstarb wieder in Hamburg. Jahr um Jahr kam herauf und versank. Und jedes Jahr war trostloser als das andere.

According to the book 1929, first year of the Great Depression, was a decisive year for Hamburg because Adolf Hitler appointed Kaufmann as its Gauleiter. He is to unite the squabbling factions in the local branch of the NSDAP and “win” Hamburg for the national-socialists. The next passages are full of war metaphors (which are pain to translate) and there is a definite conflation of an election campaign with a military campaign (the German word Kampf has many uses).

For weeks and months the drumfire from National-socialist meetings rang out over the proud, dying city. The different groups within the party aligned themselves firmly behind their Gauleiter. In difficult battles in meeting halls they showed their political opponents that they were willing to meet terror with terror.
However, as the National-socialists grew, so did the communists. the front lines became clearer. On both sides stood fanatics. On both sides stood fighters.
And so, in 1930, Paul Keßler became the first National-socialist to fall. The fight became bloody. During the campaign for the Reichstag elections, the communists’ best troops, the Red Marines, were soundly beaten. (p.73-4)

Wochenlang, Monatenlang geht über die stolze, sterbende Stadt das Trommelfeuer nationalsozialistischer Versammlungen. Die verschiedenen Gruppen der Partei richten sich klar auf ihren Gauleiter aus. In schweren Saalschlachten zeigen sie dem politischen Gegner, daß sie gewillt sind, Terror gegen Terror zu stellen. Mit den Nationalsozialisten aber wachsen auch die Kommunisten. Die Fronten werden klarer. Auf beiden Seiten stehen Fanatiker. Auf beiden Seiten stehen Kämpfer. De fällt, 1930, als erster Nationalsozialist Paul Keßler. Der Kampf wird blutig. Im Reichstagswahlkampf wird die beste Truppe der Kommunisten, die rote Marine, zusammengehauen.

And so the strident prose continues, with more fighting, both politically and on the streets. More talk of fanatics, of Hamburger workers, of deaths in the ranks. The tone changes suddenly and we learn that two important organisations within the NSDAP were founded in Hamburg. Then we return to a list of party members who died, including one who was “shot down”, though we aren’t told who did the shooting. Finally, the breakthrough (although we don’t learn exactly how this was achieved):

By April 1932 the NSDAP is Hamburg’s strongest party. New electional campaign continue to come. The depression continues to worsen. The number of people without work continues to rise. Germany, and with her Hamburg, seems ready to lie down to die. Then, in January 1933, Adolf Hitler becomes Chancellor of Germany, and a few weeks later Hamburg’s government becomes National-socialist. (p.75)

Im April 1932 ist die NSDAP. Hamburgs stärkste Partei. Immer neue Wahlkämpfer kommen. Immer größer wird die Not. Immer mehr Menschen sind ohne Arbeit. Deutschland und mit ihm Hamburg scheinen sich zum Sterben legen zu wollen. Da wird, man schreibt Januar 1933, Adolf Hitler Reichskanzler und Hamburgs Regierung wenige Wochen später nationalsozialistisch.

Title page with drawing of a large wooden buoy

The final chapter affected me quite strongly. It claims that the Nazis delivered the population of Hamburg from years of misery and were leading them into a brighter future. Anyone who has seen the arial photographs of Hamburg’s streets after the firebombings of 1943 will understand what kind of deliverance fascists bring their active and passive supporters. When extremists are in control, it’s never only the minorities who suffer.

Hamburg becomes a Reichsgau**
After years of depression and poverty, the first glimmer of hope shone over the city.
Adolf Hitler himself created the first great supply of work through ambitious planning and gigantic projects. At first, this was predominantly restricted to the domestic market. Only later was Hamburg, the harbour city, gripped by the wave of work and progress. However, what Hamburg could do on its own, it did.
The chimneys began to smoke once more, the machines ran again. The graveyard of ships on Waltershofer Harbour emptied slowly.
Meanwhile, the Leader was building the empire. His Hamburg Gauleiter, Karl Kaufmann, became Reichstatthalter on 15th May 1933, and Hamburg became an inseperable part of the one, great empire. [...] In August 1934, the Leader called the German people to a referendum. Almost unanimously, Hamburg answered him with a “yes”. (p.76)

Hamburg wird Reichsgau Nach Jahren der Not und des Elends leuchtet der Stadt zum ersten Male wieder ein Hoffnungsschimmer. Adolf Hitler selbst schafft in gewaltigen Planungen und gigantischen Projekten die ersten großen Arbeitsvorhaben. Sie sind zuerst vorwiegend auf den binnenländischen Markt beschränkt. Hamburg, die Hafenstadt, wird von der Welle der Arbeit und des Aufstieges zwangläufig erst später erfaßt. Was Hamburg aud Eigenem schaffen kann, aber schafft es. Die Schlotte beginnen wieder zu rauchen, die Maschinen werden wieder blank. Der Schiffsfriedhof in Waltershofer Hafen leert sich langsam. Der Führer aber baut das Reich. Sein Hamburger Gauleiter, Karl Kaufmann, wird am 15. Mai 1933 Reichstatthalter und Hamburg unlösbar Teil des einen, großen Reiches. [...] Im August ruft der Führer das deutsch Volk zur Volksabstimmung. Fast einmütig antwortet ihm Hamburg mit ,,Ja”.

According to the book, things were looking up in Hamburg: industrially, economically, culturally. “Once again, Hamburg has become the old city of hard work, of enjoyment, of merchantile daring. Hamburg is a city of workers. Hamburg is also a KdF. city***.” (p.78: Hamburg ist wieder die alte Stadt des Fleißes, der Lebensfreude, des Kaufmännischen Wagemutes. Hamburg ist Stadt der Arbeiter. Hamburg ist auch KdF.-Stadt.) Then the writer describes what he sees as the most important development. On the advice of Goering and Kaufmann, Hitler redraws the political borders in the North of Germany. Hamburg’s boundary is widened to include surrounding towns and villages, including Altona (in the East), Wandsbek (in the West) and Harburg-Wilhelmsburg (South of the river Elbe). In exchange, other small communtities and the towns of Cuxhaven and Geesthacht are given to Prussia. This leads to a sentence you don’t hear very often: “A centuries-old fight was ended on the orders of Adolf Hitler” (p.79: Ein jahrhundertalter Kampf wird durch den Befehl Adolf Hitlers beendet.).

Finally, Hamburg can grow out of its corner, finally the different harbours of Hamburg and Prussia have been united under one great, decisive leadership. Space for new settlements is there, sites for factories can be found everywhere. Hamburg is Reichsgau through the action of the Leader. Hamburg is growing and growing. In order to withstand crises, it is building up new industries alongside its harbour, its trade, its wharfs. It is rebuilding the banks of the Elbe, creating new harbours, allowing new fisheries to develop. Hamburg has grown a new face; a German, a global face. For before Hamburg, the Reichsgau, there now lies a new, bright future as Germany’s gateway to the world. (p.80)

Endlich kann Hamburg aus seiner Enge herauswachsen, endlich sind die verschiedenen hamburgischen und preußischen Häfen unter einer großen, umfassenden Leitung zusammengeschlossen. Raum für Siedlungen ist da, Platz für Fabriken liegt überall. Hamburg ist Reichsgau durch des Führers Tat. Hamburg wächst und wächst. Es schafft sich, um Krisenfest zu werden, eine neue Industrie neben seinem Hafen, seinem Handel, seinen Werften. Es baut sich sein Elbufer neu, schafft sich neue Häfen, läßt große Fischereianlagen entstehen. Hamburg erhält ein neues Gesicht, ein deutsches, ein weltweites Gesicht. Denn vor Hamburg, dem Reichsgau, liegt nunmehr sonnenhell eine neue Zukunft als Deutschlands Tor zur Welt.

Hamburg after the 1943 bombing

* I'm stumped. I've searched for this word and possible typo variations and am still stumped. Help.

* The NSDAP, and later the Third Reich were divided into large administrative areas called Gaus and the leaders were known as Gauleiters. I couldn't find a sensible way to translate either term.

** Kraft durch Freude, I think. I'm not sure what being a "KdF city" actually involved though.

England: The Robber State (I)

I first came across Raubstaat England (England the Robber State) at a fleamarket a few months ago (and blogged about here). I managed to persuade myself that 40 Euros was too much to pay for 1941 cigarette card album but put up far less of a fight when I found it in a shop for 3/4 of the price.
Unlike typical British and American albums, most of the space is given over to text, making it more like a history book with the illustrations removed. It is, however, a history book with a very clear aim. Here are the front and inside covers:


The introductory chapter to Raubstaat England is called ,,Vorkämpfer der Freiheit" (champions of freedom). The title is in quote marks although there's no indication of who might have said this, or if it's a view attributed to a whole group of people. It's amazing how punctuation can indicate so much sometimes. The author (Dr E. Lewalter) starts with a description of his first English lessons, shortly after the turn of the century, in which he and his classmates were taught to recite a sea-shanty. Firstly, a bit of a dig at the unfamiliar pronunciation:

"[...] with amazement we became aware of which contortions the human speech apparatus, and of which uncleanliness the voicebox must be capable of, in order to bring forth truly English sounds."

(,,[...]wir wurden mit Staunen gewahr, welcher Verrenkungen die menschlichen Sprechwerkzeuge, welcher Unreinlichkeiten die Muskulaturen des Kehlkopfes fähig sein mußten, um echt englisch klingende Laute hervorzubringen.")

Eventually the class are trusted to recite the full sea shanty in chorus, pre-pubescent voices escaping through the open classroom window to declare triumphantly to the world:

"And 't is our endeavour
In battle and in breeze
That England shall ever
Be Lord of the seas."

I agree with the author that this is a slightly dubious thing for German children to be memorising and chanting in the middle of an Anglo-German arms race. On the other hand, he has beefed up the militarism in his translation:

,,Ob Schlachten toben,
Ob Stürme dräun,
England muß Herrin
Der Meere sein."

which, brought back into English, goes something like: "Whether battles rage or storms threaten, England must be ruler of the seas". This rather unfairly changes the song from one of ambition to one of jealous protection of superiority, which nicely sets up the central message of the book.*

Lewalter wonders why nobody worried about Germany's youth, even after World War One, being taught using such anglophile material, which he feels must have led to a creeping sense of awe regarding England's naval power. Apparently the rest of his old textbook failed to provide balance and consisted of moving and edifying texts on, for example, the death of General Wolfe**, the Battle of Blenheim (with no mention of Prince Eugene), and all manner of English victories, including against the Scots and the Irish.
Two impressions arose through exposure to this material:
1. that the English always had right, and therefore the sympathies of the young German reader, on their side.
2. that the English had always been friends and allies of the Germans; their "cousins across the Channel" (,,Vettern jenseits des Kanals")
So where is he going with all this?

"However different the experiences of individual youths may have been, taken as a whole one is able to say that the German youth before the world war was raised in a strange, almost resigned reverence towards England - to be followed by a harsh awakening when England allied herself with our enemies right at the start of the world war."

,,Mögen solche Jugenderlebnisse auch im einzelnen recht verschieden gewesen sein, im ganzen wird man sagen dürfen, daß die deutsche Jugend vor dem Weltkriege in einer seltsamen, fast resignierenden Englandfrömmigkeit auferzogen wurde - aus der dann ein böses Erwachen folgte, als England sich gleich zu Beginn des Weltkrieges auf die Seite unserer Feinde stellte."

Lewalter makes it clear that this attitude only applied to England and that it would be unthinkable, especially after the war of 1870, for French grammar textbooks to contain texts glorifying French imperialism. He admits that German sympathies for the Boers during the Boer War "cast a threatening shadow over Anglo-German relations" (,,einen bedrohlichen Schatten auf die deutsch-englischen Beziehungen geworfen") but this was not seen as grounds to change the way in which Germany's youth were taught.

Without knowing which textbook was inflicted upon the author and his classmates, it is impossible to judge whether his assertions are accurate or exaggerated. None of the pre-1914 English textbooks I have found so far deal so thoroughly with England's military history. However, the re-use of texts by English authors seems to have been common (quicker, easier, more authentic and no doubt cheaper than having German authors write sample texts from scratch) and the chosen texts were never intended to provide a balanced view of history, but to serve as interesting reading exercises. Also, this problem hadn't gone completely unnoticed before the 1940s, as shown by the foreword to the 1939 rewrite of Pleasant English II.

So that's brought us to the beginning of page two. The other 128 pages will have to wait.


*Interestingly enough, a similar process - that of interpreting a patriotic song as having an overly aggressive, expansionist message - has also been carried out on the German national anthem.


**Benjamin West's painting Death of General Wolfe is the first collectible picture in the album and has the following caption:

"General Wolfe's death in Quebec", a picture which has been reproduced countless times and is widespread not only in England, but also across the whole of Europe. The sentimental portrayal glorifies one of the most brutal violent actions of English history: the plundering of Canada.

,,General Wolfes Tod bei Quebec", ein Bild, das in unzähligen Wiedergaben nicht nur in England, sondern in ganz Europa verbreitet wurde, Die rührselige Darstellung verklärte eine der brutalsten Gewalttaten der englischen Geschichte: den Raub Kanadas."

Links
Here are a few resources on the history of cigarette card collecting in Germany:

• http://www.germancards.com/GeneralStuff/germancards.htm
  
• http://www.franklyncards.com/one/german.htm
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cigarette_card

And this is a list of other albums published by the Cigaretten-Bilderdienst: http://www.worldcat.org/identities/lccn-n79-106295