August 23, 1944
Introduction to the content
In the hit song With Uncle Stalin, Curt Bloch sings about the unstoppable advance of the Russian troops, before whom the National Socialist leaders tremble. The text ends with a call to the German people to finally resist the tyranny of the bigwigs and Adolf Hitler.
A propaganda piece by Joseph Goebbels about the “technical advantage over the enemy” inspired Curt Bloch to write The New German Inventions. At first, he praises the inventors’ genius, suggesting that wonder weapons will surely be mass-produced, bringing unbearable misery to Germany’s enemies. But what specific weapons are they talking about? “There’s no word from Goebbels on that.” Bloch has an explanation: the announced innovations are also just invented f(antasies).
Probably inspired by the well-known Kriegsmarine song “Ich bin ein deutscher Matrose” by August Schorrenberg, Curt Bloch writes A German Sailor Sailed. However, unlike the original, Bloch’s verses would not have been safely performed, bcause the protagonist wants to leave the navy and return to his wife and child at last: “I prefer it at home.” The sailor wishes for the war to end, just like Adolf Hitler’s life.
In There’s something amiss, Curt Bloch examines reports of the failed attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler and discovers contradictions in newspaper articles. The Führer himself reports a bomb placed two meters away from him. NSDAP Reichsleiter Robert Ley, on the other hand, speaks of a heavy British mine placed directly under Hitler’s feet. But how could one hide a weapon of such magnitude in an ordinary briefcase, as Joseph Goebbels claims? When asked, “What is fact?” Bloch gives an answer: “It will probably be as it always is, that all three are lying again.”
In Corked Story, two advertisements from well-known sparkling wine companies – Deinhard in Koblenz and Henckell in Wiesbaden – show that wartime hardship has also affected the German sparkling wine industry: Deinhard calls for bottles and corks to be preserved, while Henckell asks customers to return stray corks to the wine supplier. Since cork is made from the bark of old oak trees in the Mediterranean region, and these supply routes are disrupted by the war, Germany now lacks these crucial items. Curt Bloch mocks this corked story. Without corks, there is no champagne, and without champagne, you can’t toast to the ultimate victory. Bloch recommends leaving the stoppers where they are. “Because it’s all in vain, you won’t win anyway.“
Paris in Expectation responds to the news that fierce battles are raging 60 kilometers west of Paris. The city’s residents are looking forward to imminent liberation after four years of suffering, so the streets of Paris can shine in their former glory again, and the city will soon be off-limits for the hated Krauts. In fact, Paris was liberated on 25 August 1944, just two days after the publication date of this OWC edition.
