Episode Seven - The Debate!

                                                        Episode Seven
                                                     The Great Debate Begins

The topic is the rights of the Third Reich Vs. the rights of humanity. If Wachter wins, the two Jews, Lusia and Genia, can remain with him. If Wachter loses, Strassel will send them to Auschwitz and inevitable death.

To maintain continuity, the last few lines of dialog of Episode Six are repeated here--

Wachter: Agreed. But who’s to be the judge in this contest of logic?
Strassel: Come, we’re both fair men. It will be obvious to both as to the winner.
Wachter: And if it obvious that I am the winner…?
Strassel: I will leave and you will see me no more. Then you may have your Jews, Albert, though little good they will do you. Come now, like old times, I argue first, you follow, then a rebuttal by each.
Wachter: All right. You first.

Strassel begins his argument--

Strassel: [Rises, occasionally paces the floor.] Look forward to the future, Albert. Let me paint you a picture. Can you see a world without hunger, disease, or poverty? And best of all, can you see a world without war?
Wachter: Utopia?
Strassel: Yes, utopia--call it that if you will. Utopia--the ultimate dream of the perfect world--the age-old dream of mankind. But I ask you--how near are we to achieving this utopia? Hunger, disease, poverty, war--they are still with us. Do you see any solution, Albert, any resolution of these problems? Come, Albert, you consider yourself an intelligent man. Answer me. Tell me your solution.
Wachter: I can't, I really can't, offhand. Well, perhaps mankind will grow in wisdom, and all pulling together, we'll be able to achieve those goals.
Strassel: Splendid!--and as an aside, remember your words “…all pulling together…” I’ll get back to them. But right now, answer me--when will this Utopia come about?--one year from now?--a hundred years?--a thousand?--a million?
Wachter: I do not know.
Strassel: You do not know? You have no answer?
Wachter: I assume you do.
Strassel: Yes, I do. We—rather, the Führer has a master plan to achieve Utopia in our lifetimes.
Wachter: A master plan for the master race, I assume.
Strassel: Exactly, Albert. You are very sharp today. Think of it-- a master plan for banishing all those ills of mankind, even war itself.
Wachter: I know I won't have to prompt you, Heinrich. For the sake of our debate, what is this plan?
Strassel: First let me put a question to you--what single factor has prevented this Utopia from coming about?
Wachter: Well, I really haven't thought about it. I don’t know.
Strassel: Then let me tell you in a nutshell. Very simply, human beings cannot work together toward a common goal--they pull in all directions. There are too many different ones. No consistent effort is ever made toward a worthy goal because of those different ones--even toward a most worthy goal such as the abolition of war. And why is that?
Wachter: You have the floor.
Strassel: Thank you. But you put your finger on it when you said “all pulling together, we'll be able to achieve those goals." But as the human race exists now, we cannot all "pull together." We can work only at cross purposes, forever in conflict, one people against another--quarreling, persecuting, brawling and making war. Is it not so, Albert?
Wachter: Yes. We quarrel, we persecute, and we make war. What is your solution?
Strassel: My solution…our solution is one race of man, the only one on this earth--an homogeneous race with only minor individual differences. Then there would be universal harmony, and all can pull together to achieve that Utopia.
Wachter: I assume from that statement that you want to eliminate the different ones.
Strassel: Precisely. And that is why the Jew is the target now—the first target.
Wachter: But why? Surely there is no more peaceful, industrious, harmless people than the Jews. What is their crime?
Strassel: I can answer that very easily, Albert. Their "crime," as you put it, is that they are different. And what compounds the crime, is that they stubbornly persist in remaining different.
Wachter: But being different has made it possible for them to survive as a people over thousands of years.
Strassel: Quite true. But on the face of it, being "different" is an unacceptable fault in the master plan.
Wachter: And just for being different, you would kill them.

Strassel: Not them exclusively. Other persistently different ones are targets, as well--the Gypsies and the Slavs, for example, and those who are different by an act of nature--the deformed, crippled, the idiot, imbecile and moron, and those different by age--those will all be targets as impediments to the master race. And there is another type of "different one," if you will, and not different by race or condition alone.
Wachter: And who may that be?
Strassel Those who are different by taking take sides against us--the ones who work against the glory of the Third Reich--the internal enemies. Like the Jew, they can never be assimilated into the master race-- the Communist, the Freemason, the Protestant, the Catholic.
Wachter: Catholic? You were raised a Catholic, Heinrich. I recall you as being particularly devout as a boy.
Strassel: My dear mother…even today she is devout.
Wachter: How old is she?
Strassel: Eighty-six.
Wachter: Is she well?
Strassel: Well enough.
Wachter: She used to stuff us with apfelstrudel.
Strassel: [Laughs] Ja! But where was I?--oh, yes. I was a Catholic. But I soon saw the light. Christianity is contaminated by Judaism. Jesus himself was a Jew--all of them Jews--the disciples and the early saints--all Jews.
Wachter: So you've rejected belief in God?
Strassel: By no means, Albert. I worship gods fit for the Aryan race--the gods of old, chiefly Wotan.
Wachter: And no doubt Thor, the god of war.
Strassel: Those are magnificent gods, Albert, gods worthy of worship. None of your crawling humility, no fancied guilt of sin. These are gods for a man and for a super race.
Wachter: I agree. Gods for such as you.
Strassel: Albert, what about the ground rules? We agreed not to bring God into this debate.
Wachter: Sorry. God tends to intrude.
Strassel: We were discussing the different ones. Where was I?
Wachter: …those who cannot be assimilated into the Master Race—the Communist, the Freemason, et cetera….
Strassel: Oh, yes. Those who are different by choice.
Wachter: You will “dispose” of them?
Strassel: Yes, but only if they chose to remain different. If they go against us, we will dispose of them. That is what the concentration camps are for. And if they are different by accident of birth—crippled, for example—we will dispose of them as did the Spartans. We will dispose of all who are an impediment to the Master Race.
Wachter: What about those who are different because of age?
Strassel: Yes, those who are enfeebled by age, we will dispose of. Mercifully, of course. We are not savages.
Wachter: Your definition of different ones takes in a lot of people and a lot of territory, Heinrich.
Strassel: And that is what makes our Kampf—our struggle—so difficult here in the Reich. And what will be even more difficult—when we have solved our problems here, we must turn our eyes to the world. Today Germany—Tomorrow the World.
Wachter: A world of black men, brown men and yellow men, I might add. Are they candidates for your plan?
Strassel: Yes.
Wachter: And all the people living—left living, that is, will be homogeneous, I believe you said, able to pull together toward that Utopia.
Strassel: Oh, yes!
Wachter: Oh, brave new world that has such people in it.
Strassel: Ah! I couldn’t have put it better myself! “A brave new world…” I must remember that.
Wachter: It’s not original with me, Heinrich.
Strassel: No matter, it fits like a glove. But there are other considerations, Albert. About the Jews, you said that they are peaceful and “industrious.”
Wachter: Did I?
Strassel: You did. You could also have added “useful.”
Wachter: Yes. Useful, of course.
Strassel: But I believe you don’t apply the term “useful” in my context. You see—and now we enter into the dynamics of present societies—useful in that if we didn’t have the Jew, we’d have to invent him.
Wachter: Invent him! What in God’s name do you mean by that? Oh, sorry. God has intruded again.
Strassel: Yes, invent the Jew. I heard it from the lips of the Reichsführer himself. Albert, talking is a thirsty business--may I have another stein?
Wachter: Of course, excuse my neglect. [Exits to kitchen.]
Strassel: [Raises voice to reach Albert in the kitchen.] You are excused, Albert. I flatter myself that your neglect of my needs comes from fascination with my revelation. And how is your dear father these days. Still alive, you said?
Wachter: [Entering with two steins.] Yes. But then, being old, he wouldn't be alive in your utopia, would he? Nor would your mother.
Strassel: Well, this is all in the future--the near future, mind you. They will both be gone before that time comes.
Wachter: Conveniently so. But pray continue, especially with regard to having to invent the Jew.
Strassel: In any society that is changing--and you will agree that the Third Reich is a changing society--there will be certain pressures generated, certain frustrations such as food shortages, lack of jobs, and so forth. These are dangerous frustrations, Albert. What would you do about them?
Wachter: Why, try to supply foods and jobs, of course.
Strassel: That is only part of the answer--there may be not enough of those commodities to go around. So the frustrations remain. What do you do about the pressures those frustrations generate? Remember, those pressures are dangerous to the stability of your society, and if left unvented, they can destroy that society, even a society as powerful as the Third Reich.
Wachter: I believe I can foresee your “solution.”
Strassel: I believe you can, Albert. But let me tell you in my own words--You focus those frustrations on a target and throw all the blame on that target. And Albert, that target is …?
Wachter: The Jews.
Strassel: Yes. The Jews.

Wachter: But that is so unfair!
Strassel: This is war, Albert--war! All is fair in war. There is another consideration with regard to the Jews…
Wachter: Even more, Heinrich?
Strassel: You said that the Jews are industrious. That's true. So, when you root them out of their lairs, send them to ghettos and camps, much wealth is left behind--left for the taking. An invaluable people, really. Yes, we would have to invent them if they weren't already in place, ready to use.
Wachter: Heinrich, let me ask you--I assume that you have, ah-- disposed of many like Genia and her mother?
Strassel: Yes.
Wachter: Doesn’t your conscience ever bother you?
Strassel: Not when you take the longer view and look at the big picture. The present unpleasantness with the Jews is of little consequence in view of the magnificent future of the master race. Conscience--especially your Judeo-Christian conscience--doesn't enter the picture. Those who follow us will be the pure Aryan conquerors of the entire world. They will view us as saints those of us of the present Kampf.
Wachter: Including you, Heinrich? Will you be viewed as a saint?
Strassel: Yes, Albert, even me. I rest easy at night, no matter what I may have done during the day, nor what I may have to do in the days to come. The future will prove us right. I have finished, Albert, and I believe I have quite cooked your goose. Now it is your turn.

Strassel sits, settles back in the chair, and sips beer.

                                                      End of Episode Seven

So that is Strassel’s argument for the rights of the Third Reich as against the rights of humanity. Is it a convincing argument? Do you agree? Are such measures as Strassel advocates absolutely necessary to achieve his hypothetical Utopia, especially if it means the wholesale obliteration of at least two-thirds of the world’s population; not only the Jews of the world, but all those brown men and black men and the many other “undesirables” Strassel speaks of? In short, it means Genocide. That Hitler and his crew had that intent is without doubt for it was his goal to wipe out the Jewish race in Europe, and eventually in all the world. (And he nearly succeeded with the Jews in Europe!)
                      Today Germany…tomorrow the world was no idle boast.
These are topics that merit serious consideration, for there are those who adhere to this doctrine—even today-- and they could eventually have their way—unless all of us are acutely aware of Genocide and are prepared to fight it. For Genocide continues to this day. Need examples? Darfur and Rwanda.

And we’ll tell more about those actors you saw at the beginning of this Episode.
So, onto Interval Seven, which will appear on Monday, January 22!
¬¬¬¬¬¬
Brave New World is the title of a book by Aldous Huxley, one of the seminal books of the Twentieth Century. Another is 1984, written by George Orwell. Both will be discussed in the next interval, Interval Seven.

Interval Six - Butterflies

Santa has gone back to the North Pole, so it is now time to l look forward to a Happy and Prosperous New Year!

Now, back to the play A Ball for Genia. The formidable General Strassel and Wachter have agreed to a debate. The topic?  The Rights of the Third Reich vs. the Rights of Humanity.  Strassel will argue that the rights of the third Reich are synonymous, or the same.  Wachter will take the opposite stand that the rights are not at all the same, but completely opposite.  The prize for the winner?  If Strassel wins, he will take Lusia and Genia with him, and very likely, ship them off to Auschwitz-Birkenau.

 SO—so much depends upon Wachter’s ability as a debater. The odds against him are formidable.  Armed might and the perverse logic of Hitler’s mind on the side of General Strassel, and only reason and common humanity on the side of Wachter.  Only reason and common humanity?  That may be enough.

General Strassel will be the first to argue.  His argument will appear in Episode Seven on Monday, January 14.

              In the meantime, other Holocaust-related topics deserve consideration, such h as the children of the Holocaust, especially the children of the concentration Theresienstadt, also called Terezin.  One of the children of Terezin wrote a poem—    

                                                                         The Butterfly
                                                                  The last, the very last,

                                                                 So richly, brightly, dazzlingly yellow.

                                                                  Perhaps if the sun’s tears would sing
                                                                          against a white stone. . . .

                                                                  Such, such a yellow

                                                                  Is carried lightly ‘way up high.
                                                                  It went away I’m sure because it wished to
                                                                          kiss the world good-bye.

                                                                   For seven weeks I’ve lived in here,

                                                                   Penned up inside this ghetto.
                                                                   But I have found what I love here.
                                                                   The dandelions call to me
                                                                   And the white chestnut branches in the court.
                                                                    Only I never saw another butterfly.
                                                           
                                                                     That butterfly was the last one.
                                                                     Butterflies don’t live here,
                                                                      in the ghetto.

 Of all the sadness of the Holocaust, the saddest were the children, and the fate they suffered even before they had a chance to live to the full.  Such as was case of the boy, Pave Friedman, age 14, who wrote The Butterfly. Such a talent and such a yearning to live, to be cut off so soon. He and his family were eventually transported to Auschwitz-Birkenau, where Pavel died, along with his family.  Here follows brief review of the book and how it came into existence.  

 Terezin was “gift” from Hitler to the Jews, and was supposed to be an excellent place to live. Many of the very old were sent them to live out their lives there, and Jewish war veterans who had served in World War I were included. Even Reinhard Heydrich mentioned it favorably. It was even governed by a group of Jewish elders.  But the gift from Hitler soon became ghetto whose inhabitants were closely restricted as in any concentration camp.  Fifteen thousand of those imprisoned there were children confined there, and if they were not orphans, with their parents.

 The story of Terezin and the place of children in it are told in a book titled . . . I never saw another butterfly. . . The book’s  sub-title is “Children’s Drawings and Poems from Terezin Concentration Camp, 1942-1944.” A brilliant foreword by Chaim Potok tells the history of Terezin and its transition from a quiet back-country city in early 1941 to a ghetto of 60,000 inhabitants in late 1942.

 The book is replete with the charming drawings by children; here are some examples--

That the drawings exist at all is due to largely to Friedl Dicker-Brandies, a well-known artist of the time. She could have escaped Germany but felt she was needed more at Terezin, where there were so many children.  She was a teacher who accepted no payment. She brought to Terezin as much paper, water colors and crayons she could carry. What she did is best by a quote from Chaim Potok’s foreword to I never saw another butterfly --

“She would tell stories, and the children would be required to draw them.  They drew flowers, butterflies, , animals, cities, storms, rainbows, streets, railway stations, family portraits, holidays, merry-go-rounds. They drew their concealed inner worlds, their tortured emotions, which Friedl Dicker-Brandeis was then able to enter and try to heal.  She helped restore a balance to the trembling consciousness of terrified children.  The children of Terezin created about 5,000 drawings and collages.”

A member of those classes who survived said of her wrote: “I remember Mrs. Brandeis as a tender, highly intelligent woman who managed to create a fairy world for us at Terezin . . . a world that made us forget the surrounding hardships, which we were not spared despite our early age.”

Mrs. Brandeis was selected for deportation to Auschwitz-Birkenau and died there, probably in a gas chamber, like so many others.

                                   . . . and who is to say that angels do not appear

             here on earth when and where most needed?

What became of the children?

No!  Oh, NO!

There were 15,000 children at Terezin. All were transferred to Auschwitz. One hundred survived, none under age 14. The angels must weep.

  

More About the book  . . . I never saw another butterfly . . .

   Edited by Hannah Volakova

   Expanded Second Edition by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum 

   Foreword by Chaim Potok

   Afterword by Vaclav Havel. 

   Schocken Books . New York, 1993

   Sales: More than a million copies.

This is a book that should be in every library, especially those with a special  love for children. First, check your local bookstore and library for a copy.  It is also available on-line in paperback and hard cover at Amazon  and Barnes & Noble. It is also available of course in Amazon Kindle and Barnes & Noble Nook form.

There is also a one-act play:  I never saw another butterfly (One Act)  , by Celeste Rita Raspanti, which is based on the Butterfly book. The play is ideal for performance by children.   Here is what one reviewer ( an Amazon customer) wrote about it—

 About eight years ago in Junior High School, our drama teacher had us perform this play. The poems these children wrote were so powerful you couldn't help but cry. I never forgot that play and what those children went through. This is an excellent play! It helped me understand the Holocaust better than any text book ever could.

                                                                                                ****

NOW, let’s look forward to Monday, January 14, when the formidable and

      ruthless General Strassel  will begin the debate with Albert Wachter. 

                               

­______________

If you have any money left after the recent holidays, consider a contribution to the USHMM—the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.  Use the address below to donate, or open the website www.ushmm.org

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
     100 Raoul Wallenberg Place, SW
       Washington, DC 20024-2126
    Main telephone: (202) 488-0400
         TTY: (202) 488-0406

Episode Six

Episode Six begins exactly as Episode Five has ended.  Commandant Strassel is standing in the open doorway.  Wachter and Mrs. Winkelman are half-turned to the door.  Lusia, while clutching Genia, gives a cry of recognition and terror.  There is a moment of silence as Strassel enters and closes the door behind him.

Strassel:  Good evening, Albert.
Wachter: [Finding his voice] Uh, good evening, Heinrich.
Strassel:   We meet again, old friend.
Wachter:   Yes.  How…how did you know that Genia lived here?
Strassel:   Genia? That’s odd. She told me her name was Alice—Alice Schulz.
Wachter:  Alice Schulz?  [Wachter glances at Lusia, who nods her head.]
Strassel:   She is well-trained, that little one.  Like a little parrot—“My name is Alice Schulz and I am 8 years old. Please let me go home!”  But I soon learned the truth.
Lusia:    You hurt her!
Strassel:   Madame!  We do not hurt children. We are a civilized people.
Lusia:    Genia!  Why did you tell on us?
Strassel:   Oh, but she did not tell on you.  [Strassel takes yellow ball from Genia.] Thank you, liebchen. This told me.
Wachter:   I believe I see how…when we met this morning…
Strassel:  Yes, Albert my friend.  We met and you with a yellow ball.  You tried to conceal it; I couldn’t think why. Then when little lost Alice—Genia rather—was found by my troops and clutching that same yellow ball as if her life depended on it, I put two and two together and came up with Albert Wachter.
Wachter:  [Trying to urge Strassel toward the door.] Well, thank you, Heinrich, for bringing her back.  Believe me, we really appreciate it.
Strassel:   Not so fast, Albert. We’re not through talking.  You haven’t introduced me to the ladies.
Wachter:  Your pardon. Commandant Strassel: May I present Lusia, Genia’s mother. Lusia, this is Heinrich Strassel, Commander of the Waffen SS.
Strassel:   [Looks at Lusia with contempt, but makes no acknowledgement.] And this lady?
Wachter:   Mrs., Winkelman, my housekeeper.
Strassel:   [Bows, clicks heels] Madam!  I am honored.
Wachter:   You can go, Mrs. Winkelman. [She exits to the kitchen.]
Strassel:   [Tossing ball up and down] Yellow, like the badge of the Jews.  I wasn’t sure about Alice—I mean Genia.  But… [holds up doll] Genia’s doll is named Rivke—Hebrew for Rebecca.  And now that I’ve seen Genia’s mother… [in barking voice] You are Jewish!

                                                  
Lusia:    I am.
Strassel:   And so is Genia.  We Schutstaffeln have well-trained noses for sniffing out Jews. So, Albert my old friend, you are harboring Jews.  That is a criminal offense! I could hang you for that.
Lusia:    No!
Strassel:   Oh, yes.  Right outside this house from a lamp post, as an example to others. Genia, go with your mother to another room.  Herr Wachter and I must have a talk—a private talk.
     Wachter nods to Lusia who begins to hurry Genia offstage. She stops as Strassel calls to her.
Strassel:  Genia!  Haven’t you forgotten something?
Genia:   [Stops, hesitatingly returns.] What…?
Strassel:   You’ve forgotten Rivke! [Peeks doll playfully over his arm.] She will cry if you leave her.  Here you are.
     Genia takes doll as Strassel pats her head.  She curtseys.  Lusia takes Genia’s arm and hurries her offstage, but leaving the door slightly ajar.  All other inner doors are also slightly ajar.
Strassel:  [Beaming] Ah, I wish I had a daughter like that, so polite and well-behaved.  Not Jewish, of course.
Wachter:   With such a daughter, you would be blessed beyond measure.
Strassel:  Well, Albert.  What have you to say for yourself?  [Wachter shrugs, at loss for words.] Ah, I recall that, as a boy, you would bring a menagerie of animals home to your parents—whom I remember with great affection. Hurt animals…stray animals—a veritable zoo.
Wachter:   I …I don’t know what to say.
Strassel:   No need to say a word. You have merely started another menagerie.  Animals are lacking here in the city, so you bring home two Jews—Genia and her mother.
Wachter:   Yes I did! But not for that reason.
Strassel:   Albert, Albert, these are not animals, they’re undermenschen, subhuman, worse than animals. They are Jews! And as I told you before, sheltering Jews is a capital offence.  Really, I could hang you for it.
Wachter:  Hang? For sheltering a pretty little girl and her mother from death?  In the old days, we called that chivalry.
Strassel:   [Laughing] Just like the Albert Wachter of old—impractical, and ignoring the reality for the ideal.
Wachter:  And I remember a different Heinrich Strassel, a gentle, kindlier Heinrich Strassel.
Strassel:   Enough!  Why do I waste my time with you?  One word from me and you will be on your way to Auschwitz within the hour, or would you rather hang? [Reconsidering] No, Albert.  You are a friend, and we go back a long way.  Let us talk. Let us see if I can pound some sense into that head of yours.
Wachter:   Yes, let us talk. Perhaps I can pound some sense into yours.
Strassel:   [With a great pealing laugh.] Splendid!  Just like the Albert Wachter I used to know. We’ll talk.  [Sits]  And let’s be informal. [Removes death head’s cap.] Perhaps a stein of beer, jah?
Wachter:  Jah. [Exits to kitchen. Leaves door open.]
Strassel:   [Raises voice to talk with Wachter in the kitchen] Ah, Albert, it is good to relax and talk with an old friend.  I have severe responsibilities these days, not at all like the old times in school. [Wachter returns with two steins.]  Danke!  Prosit.  I walked here alone, carrying Genia. I get so tired of being escorted by a dozen troops in a motorcade.  Mrs. Winkelman…has she been with you long?
Wachter:   Many years.
Strassel:   A good Aryan woman, Mrs. Winkelman.  A pillar of her race.
Wachter:   I agree.  A pillar of her race.
     [Author’s note: Mrs. Winkelman is actually Jewish.  So much for Strassel’s “nose for smelling out Jews.”]
Strassel:   You are to be complimented on your servants, if not your guests.
Wachter:   [Warily] Thank you.
Strassel:   [Drinks] Sehr gut. (Sighs] Leiber Gott!  You can’t imagine the load I carry these days.  Uh, this chair I sit in…it was your father’s, was it not?
Wachter:  It was.
Strassel:   I remember the day I dared to sit in “his chair”—when he was not there, of course. I think of your father with great affection.  He was stern, yet caring.
Wachter:   He still lives, but now in an old people’s home and quite happy with his memories of a better time.
Strassel:   He must be very old…at least 90.
Wachter:  94.
Strassel:   Wonderful.  Wonderful.  How times have changed, Albert.  I think those old days were the best times in our lives.  Don’t you agree?
Wachter:   I do.
Strassel:   Now I have the glory, the pomp, the respect…   [His voice falters as he displays a feeling of weakness, even of fear.]  I’d trade it all for a month, a week, even a day of those old days when were boys.  What has become of us, Albert?  What has become of those boys?  Ach! I’m talking like a fool.  What’s got into me?
Wachter:  You are talking like the Heinrich Strassel I used to know. [Wachter seizes on what he believes a moment of weakness in Strassel.]  Heinrich, a moment ago, you called Genia “liebchen.”
Strassel:   Yes, I did. She is a little dear.
Wachter:   And well raised, wouldn’t you say?
Strassel:   Agreed.  A most polite and charming little girl.
Wachter:   Is she doing any harm in staying here with me?
Strassel:   Harm? [Pauses for a moment of thought] Yes.  Harm.  Indirect harm.
Wachter:   But why shouldn’t Genia and her mother stay?  I know what will happen to them if you force them to leave.
Strassel:   You know…what do you know?
Wachter:   I know…I know about Auschwitz.
Strassel:   Auschwitz! What goes on there is not to be known to the general public. How do you know?
Wachter:   Just that I know.
Strassel:   I could find out how you know! We have ways….  Oh, forget that.  In answer to your question “are they doing any harm, I said “indirectly.”
Wachter:   How, indirectly?
Strassel:   There is no harm in those two Jews now, but that lovely child Genia is a cultural time bomb who in a few years will be spawning undermenschen.  And her equally lovely mother, with her fertile womb, is biology of treasons.
Wachter:   How can you say that?  How can you believe that?
Strassel:   Because, as Jews, Genia and her mother are corrupters of the human race.
Wachter:  Save that propaganda for the mob, Heinrich.  As a reasonable human being, how can you believe such nonsense?
Strassel:   [Bristles, then laughs heartily.] Albert, you haven’t changed a bit.  You still love an argument. We were a fine pair of debaters, you and me.  I remember we won prizes in school. Let’s go back to those old times and have a debate—a contest of logic, you and I.
Wachter:  Agreed! And what shall the subject be?
Strassel:   How about… the rights of the Master Race versus…versus what?
Wachter:  Versus the Rights of Humanity.
Strassel:   Hmm…yes! That will work. My proposition will be that the Master Race has certain rights, and yes! …those rights are compatible with the Rights of Humanity, rights which are set forth in…now, let’s see…
Wachter:  Don’t give your argument away.
Strassel:   No, I mustn’t do that else I fall into the trap of the wily debater, Albert Wachter.  [Laughs] Wunderbar! I have a subject dear to my heart! [Rises, clasps Wachter’s hands] Dear Albert!
Wachter:   There must be a prize for the winner.
Strassel:   A prize? Yes, of course.  If you win the debate, I shall leave, and leave alone, and not return. If you lose, then Genia and Lusia must go with me. Agreed?
Wachter:   Do I have a choice?
Strassel:  Not really.  If I did my duty, I would ship those Jews to Auschwitz and have you hanged, all within the hour. But I put aside duty for friendship’s sake—their lives in the balance against my eloquence in defense of the doctrines of the Fuhrer.
Wachter:   That is not much of a choice. Yet, I agree.
Strassel:   Oh, come now; what I offer is fair.  Notice I said “a contest of logic.”
Wachter:   If there is to be contest of logic, there must be no fulminating about “Jewish-Capitalistic Bolshevism,” and the like, because it is meaningless…it will carry no weight with me.
Strassel:  [Hearty laugh] Fulminating—hah! I love that word.  But I agree.  And for my part, another ground rule: no Judeo-Christian claptrap. No blather of Jesus or God or the rest of that tribe of Abraham.
Wachter:   You leave me little basis for debate.
Strassel:   I am being fair, Albert. Anything you say concerning religion will have no weight with me as I don’t believe that dreck for a moment. Another ground rule: Let us not stand around making speeches, you and I; let us feel free to break in one another with questions and comments. Agreed?
Wachter:   Agreed. But who’s to be the judge of this contest?
Strassel:   Come, we are both fair men.  It will be obvious to both who is the winner.
Wachter:   And if it is obvious that I am the winner…?
Strassel:  I will leave, and you will see me no more.  Then you may have your Jews, Albert, though little good they will do you.  Come now, like old times.  I argue first, and then you follow.
Wachter:   All right. You first!

End of Episode Six

And so the two will begin their debate.  There is so much at stake—the lives of Genia of the yellow ball and her mother Lusia. The odds against Wachter are formidable. Armed might and the perverse logic of Hitler’s mind are on the side of Commandant Strassel, and only reason and common humanity on the side of Wachter.   …only reason and common humanity?  That may be enough.
                                                    
In the last Interim, Interim Five, we wished you a Happy Hanukkah. Now Christmas is coming, and very soon, so let’s celebrate Christmas and the New Year, and meet again on January 7, 2013.

Painting by Viggo Johanson, 1891

From Wikipedia

Interval Five - A Dark "Conspiracy"

A Review of the Motion Picture Conspiracy 

Those pictured on the DVD-disk are (from the left) Kenneth Branagh as Reinhard Heydrich, and Stanley Tucci as Adolf Eichmann. Heydrich is SS-Obergruppenfuhrer, and in addition to being a general officer, holds several other high offices in the German chain of command. He was considered to be third most powerful man in the Reich, ranking only after the one and two of Hitler and Himmler. He was also a man of uttermost cruelty, and natural born sadist whom Hitler (who should know!) labeled as “the man with the iron heart.” And there is no doubt that Heydrich was the man who launched the Final Solution that culminated in the deaths of six million Jews. That, plus a couple of million others deemed by the Nazis as undermenschen—the Romani (gypsies), and the Sentis. 

Conspiracy is based on notes taken by Adolf Eichmann at the Wannsee Conference, a meeting held at the Wannsee villa located just outside of Berlin. The date was January 1942. The Wannsee villa was, and still is, a lovely place, and is now a Holocaust museum— a fitting end for its role as the location of the Wannsee Conference. The participants were 15 in number, most of whom represented second-tier leaderships of the Nazi party. Reinhard Heydrich had called the meeting and chaired it, and supplied the agenda. His goal? –their unconditional acceptance. 

A review like this can only touch the most representative highlights, ones which can, it is hoped, bring out underlying horror of what, on the surface, appeared to be a normal” business conference. They had all gathered, and Heydrich was the last to attend, as he was forever making a “grand entrance. “ Below we see Kenneth Branagh as Reinhard Heydrich— a man may smile and smile and be a villain. 

Kenneth Branagh

Reinhard Heydrich

 








Heydrich calls the meeting to order and calls on each participant to identify themselves.  

Note: Excerpts of the dialog will be offered to indicate the content and interplay of the meeting participants. 

The meeting begins-- 

Heydrich: We are standing still in Russia. The Americans have joined the war. These matters place a further demand on our economy and food supply. We cannot store these Jews. So the question is: What do we do with the staggering number of Jews overwhelming us? The Jews must be removed from our living space. And the inevitable solution is what we will discuss this afternoon. 

What about our friends, the Italians, you ask? In the last analysis, if they do not purge their Jews, then we will go down there and accomplish it for them.

Dr. Kritzinker: Seventy- five percent of your Jews have never even picked up a pencil. And now— building roads…?

Heydrich: They will become ‘casualties.’ [Which meant that they would die of exhaustion from overwork, rotten food, and weather extremes.]

(Eichmann is called away to answer a phone call for Heydrich. Eichmann, to the called: “This meeting is not taking place. We will not take phone calls from anyone. Unless the Führer calls. And he won’t. Understood?”) 

Heydrich finds that Dr. Kritzinker to be an obstacle. He takes him aside: 

Heydrich: You’ve taken a position--you deserve a response. It is a cold winter. It looks like a longer, harder war. The Jews are in the way.
Dr. Kritzinker: And how can I, being one rather peripheral figure in your grand plan, be in your way?

Heydrich: You underestimate your influence. I do not. You’d be a hard man to down, but certainly not impossible. Did I hear you say earlier “be practical?” (Yes.) Well now this is the moment to be practical until such time that Germany can afford your philosophy, which is, what?—impoverish them, exploit them, imprison them-- just do not kill them. And you are one of God’s noblest men! I find that truly remarkable. Sitting at the table, I will again ask for your agreement to what has been proposed. 

Dr. Kritzinker: And I must answer now?
Heydrich: Oh, you will answer now—or you will answer…later.
Dr. Kritzinker: I will not oppose you.
Heydrich: I want more than that.
Dr. Kritzinker: Of course.
Heydrich: Good, now we understand each other.

****

(“I am) Neumann, Director of the Office of the four year plan.” “And what is your plan? That we will be in the White House in four years?”
Heydrich: Jews over 65 years will be moved into Ghettos, possibly Terezin, along with war veterans awarded the Iron Cross.
Comment: “I hear Heydrich has a little Jew blood in him.” Response: “Why don’t you ask him?” A later comment: “It is his father.” [But nobody dared to ask him!] 

Then they got to the crux of the meeting—the whole intent of purpose of it—to initiate the Final Solution!

Eichmann Reports-- 
 
We have used injections, and tried electrocution, but most effectively, we have used carbon monoxide gas. Areas are constructed that resemble a shower room or bath, and the subjects are brought in naked, as for a bath. Outside, are stainless steel tanks of carbon monoxide gas. Seventh-three thousand two hundred and seventy-three have been gassed in this program We also directed the construction of 20 mobile gassing trucks, using redirected carbon monoxide exhaust back into the trucks. In each truck, you can get in 40 to 60 Jews—a hundred is more effective--…and the carbon monoxide, what it does as it kills, --uh, the bodies come out pink. 

That got a big laugh around the table. “Now we turn red Jews into pink Jews! That’s progress!"

Eichmann went on-- 

We now have three camps where permanent gas chambers will be operating: Belzik, Sobibor and Treblinka. And Auschwitz…we are turning that camp into a major processing center. We have four camps where permanent gas chambers will be operating: When the buildings are completed, we expect to be able to process 2,500 an hour…not a day…an hour. At 24 hours a day, that is 60,000 a day. And that means the processing of 21,900,000 Jews a year! 

And, for disposal of the bodies, large commercial gas ovens will be used that leave little residue.

Those around the table are incredulous, and disturbed. Hard men though they are, they are appalled at first. Then they realize that their major problem—the Jews –would be gone from all Europe under the control of the Third Reich.
“So, 60,000 Jews a day will go up in smoke.”

Heydrich: We can achieve that. (All pound the table with great enthusiasm) The machinery is waiting. Feed it! Get the trains rolling.
Heydrich has a final word: Good! We have accomplished something!

****

The Meeting was over.  Eichmann destroyed the notes, gathered the folders, and left.  It was Eichmann who, upon the death of Heydrich, took on the responsibility of following Heydrich’s orders.  And that he was effective at the task is shown by the fulfillment of the Final Solution, and the six million dead. 

All those in attendance destroyed their copies of the records of the meeting; all but one, that is—Martin Luther. His copy was found by American forces. And that single sole copy was the basis for the movie Conspiracy.

****

Heydrich went on to Prague, Czechoslovakia, to deal with the Czech partisans, where he earned the title The Butcher of Prague. Not long after, as he was being transported in an open top car and with only a driver, Heydrich was attacked by two Czechs who had been trained in commando tactics by British operatives.  They shot Heydrich and threw a bomb at him. Although wounded, he followed them, tried to shoot it out with them. But he was mortally wounded, and died a week later. Hitler commented on the stupidity of what he did in traveling unprotected. But he gave him a huge funeral service, with all Berlin participating. 

And in retaliation for the death of Heydrich, the village of Lidice where the Czechs had hidden was destroyed, and all inhabitants killed. The total number that paid the price of Heydrich’s assassination was 13,000 men, women and children.

****

To read further--
Read a description of the Wannsee Conference by the USHMM-- the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. And while you’re there, view the 2011 National Days of Remembrance Ceremony, which is solemn and beautiful tribute to those who, at the risk of their lives, saved Jews from the Holocaust.
If you would like to learn more about Heydrich, read "Hitler's Hangman".

****

NOW—a little about the movie itself— 

The Cast of Conspiracy

Kenneth Branagh: Reinhard Heydrich
Stanley Tucci: Adolf Eichmann
Barnaby Kay: Rudolf Lange
Peter Sullivan: SS. Col. Eberhard Schöngarth
Ben Daniels: Dr. Joseph Büeller
Ewan Steward: Dr. Georg Leibbrandt
Brian Pettifer: Dr. Albert Meyer
Kevin McNally: Undersecretary Martin Luther
Colin Firth: Dr. Wilhelm Stuckart
Nicholas Woodeson: SS Lt. Gen. Otto Hoffmann
Johathan Coy: Erich Neumann
David Threlfall: Dr. Wilhelm Kritzinger
Ian McNeice: Dr. Gerhard Klopfer
Owen Teale: Dr. Roland Freisler
Brendan Coyle: SS Major Gen. Heinrich Müeller


[1] Brendan Coyle can be seen currently playing the part of the imprisoned valet in the PBS production Downton Abbey. 

Director: Frank Pierson Writer: Loring Mandel

According to IMDb, Conspiracy won a Golden Globe, six other wins and 17 nominations.

The director, Frank Pierson, died at 87 soon after directing Conspiracy. He was a former Movie Academy president, and a script writer in addition to being a remarkable director. It is a challenge for director to deal with a large cast such as that of Conspiracy. Pierson met the challenge beautifully.

Conspiracy is available from your local dvd source, or at Barnes and Noble and Amazon. 

****

Now for something different, but not much—

It is said that there was a sign at the entrance to Auschwitz-Birkenau which read, in effect: 

IF YOU HAVE SPECIAL DIETARY REQUIREMENTS,

PLEASE LET US KNOW.

In view of the starvation diets the prisoners were subjected to, was this a bit of ironic humor? Or, perhaps the erection of this sign was a kindness, in that new arrivals would think “If they are concerned about my diet, this mustn’t be such a bad place.”

****

Now, what’s to come?

Genia has been lost, and now is found, as described in Episode Five. But the man who found her and brought her back to the house of Albert Wachter can mean death for all of them, for he is—SS General Heinrich Strassel!—the greatest threat to the Jews in all Europe. 

We’ll learn what happened in the next thrilling Episode Six of A Ball for Genia, which will be published on Monday, December 17. Following that, let’s suspend the playing of A Ball for Genia until Monday, January 7, when we take up the next interval—Interval Six. 

In the meantime, let’s all enjoy the holidays. First, Hanukkah, and the eight-day Re-dedication, which begins on December 9. And Christmas, with all the joy the season brings and the celebration of the birth of the Christ Child.