Gemünd, Eifel (Luftkurort)
We walked back from the synagogue, my father and I, along Mühlengasse, over the bridge and on to Dreibornerstrasse.
We climbed the stairs to our front door and breathed in the smell of spices and apple cake.
I took for granted the peace and warmth among us, our little family of three, living in the privacy of our comfortable home.
Dreibornerstrasse 1936 | Preliminary design by textile artist Laura Nathan for the Documentary #8814
I was completely unaware of the activity in the hills above Gemünd, our home town, near the Belgian border. Did my parents or their close friends suspect anything?
How much did our neighbors know?
Surely they questioned the constant hauling of materials through our streets. How did thy manage to suppress curiosity, anxiety, fear?
On 24 April, 1936 when I was 4 years old, after frenetic construction “Ordensburg (Castle of the Nazi Military Order) Vogelsang was formally handed over to Adolf Hitler and 500 Orden Junker (cadets) from all over Germany moved in. Emphases was placed on Nazi racial theories, geopolitics and sports”. (Wikipedia)
Happening in the hills above our small home town.
Ordensburg Vogelsang was one of 3 castles built to train future leaders for the 1.000 year Reich.
The other two? Ordensburg Krössinsee in Pomerania and Ordensburg Sonthofen in Allgäu.
Vogelsang is the only one that is fully preserved. It is one of the largest architectural relics of Nazi Germany. (Wikipedia)
Yesterday, 20 August 2024, David Peters, the director of our documentary, #8814 forwarded these copies of authentic old photos from Ordensburg Vogelsang.
I looked at the images, exposing the hidden past and I thought about power, authoritarianism, spectacle, propaganda, deception, evil and thought about our perilous responses in there 1930’s, our unawareness, avoidance, fear, compliance….
During one of my return visits to Gemünd, years ago, my friend, Hannah Wachtel, the owner of the Buchhandlung on Dreibornerstrasse gave me a picture book,
Das historische Gemünd by Markus Herbrand.
Today I turn the pages and look at a photo of the Kino, taken in Mai 1945, after the bombing and the war’s ending.
The photographer had written on the back, durchgehend geöffnet (open continuously).
Ironically this is the tiny cinema that had turned us away, Ruth and I with a sign, No Jews Allowed when full of eager anticipation we expected to see Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
The Kino, Gemünd, May 1945
I shudder at the contrast between the brutalist architecture, the hubris, the vain glory displayed on the hills above Gemünd in the 1930’s and the devastation of our little scenic town in 1945.
My childhood experiences make me suspicion of spectacle, virulent speeches, false promises and…
I remember the illustrations, the parables, the stories that the Messiah spoke so urgently and eloquently.
His warning words resonate today,
Watch and Pray!