Dangerous times
With the calls from the far right to hang journalists, or put them in the gas chamber, or prosecute them for treason for exposing the crimes and policy disasters of the Bush Administration, I thought wingnuts everywhere might enjoy this photo of the site of some actual hangings on April 10, 1945. Three non-Jewish German men who tried to save their village of Brettheim in Baden-Württemburg from destruction by the American Army in the closing days of World War II were hanged from these linden trees by S.S. and Hitler Youth troops, the latter in their mid-teens. They are buried in the adjoining cemetery.
At the time, the S.S. (elite units which, unlike the regular German Army, were comprised of nearly 100 percent dedicated Nazis) was summarily executing any of their fellow citizens who were "defeatist" or "traitors," which they defined as not wanting to fight to the death against the Americans in the waning days of a war (it ended May 8, 1945) that anyone with half a brain could see was lost.
Two men from Brettheim, hoping to spare their village from destruction, had disarmed four Hitler Youth to prevent them from shooting at the Americans and bringing return fire on the village. The S.S. arrived that night and arrested one of the men (the other escaped), farmer Friedrich Hanselmann. He admitted his role in the incident and was sentenced to death. Brettheim's mayor and head teacher (who was also a Nazi) refused to sign the sentence and were likewise sentenced to death. Seven days after the hangings, with the S.S. forcing regular German troops in Brettheim to fight to the death, the village was destroyed in an inferno of American bombing and artillery. About 20 villagers died.
I was first told about this in the 1990s by relatives who live a few miles from Brettheim. I visited the cemetery again when I was in the area in May and shot these photos. It is a chilling story that has stayed with me. I see it as emblematic of the fate of Germans who were not fanatical Nazis, but who went along for the ride out of apathy or fear. In the end, they died, too, in bombing raids or murder by the true believers among their own countrymen. What was done to the Jews, or to the occupied nations, was finally done to them. There was no escape in keeping one's head down and remaining silent. Brettheim's fate ought to be a lesson to any people attracted by the temporary order and security a dictator can bring. There is always a price to pay for the evil of leaders.
The calls for the murder of journalists or Supreme Court justices in our own country are sick. Sure, these may be cries of impotent rage from far rightists who see their dreams of a permanent ascendency heading for the scrap heap--think of the coming elections as the approaching American Army. But like the diehard Nazis at the end of World War II, they are dangerous and can kill even as outside forces are closing in. We dare not ignore their threat. Anyone who publicly longs for the murder of journalists or Supreme Court justices ought to receive a visit from the police.
