July 22, 1944
Introduction to the content
Curt Bloch reflects on the state of the German Reich, prompted by the failed assassination attempt on Adolf Hitler on July 20, 1944. The Führer no longer enjoys trust and clings to life only by murdering officers and generals who oppose him. “Besides a few Nazis, I don’t see anything but hostility against Hitler.” Bloch draws parallels to the “Röhm Putsch” in 1934 when numerous high-ranking Nazis, including Ernst Röhm, the long-time Chief of Staff of the Sturmabteilung (SA), were killed by the SS and Gestapo.
The bomb attack on Hitler is also the subject of the poem The German “Solidarity”. Curt Bloch is very sad that the Führer could not be killed. He sympathizes strongly with Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg (1907–1944), who carried out the assassination attempt. He hopes that in the next attempt to eliminate Adolf Hitler, the aim will be better. Bloch feels that the Germans detest the swastika, and resistance would prevail. Although the Führer wears a bandage due to his injuries, he is no longer connected to his people.
In a poem from the perspective of Benito Mussolini, Curt Bloch sums up the sad situation of the “Duce.” After his removal exactly a year ago, he no longer possesses any power and is now just a “mere pawn in Adolf Hitler’s game of chess” With the realization that the future holds nothing but the grave for him and the Führer, the Monologue of the Duce comes to an end.
Arthur Seys-Inquart has a Birthday (22-7-44). This OWC edition is published on the same day, so Curt Bloch dedicates a poem to the Reich Commissioner for the Netherlands appointed by Hitler. Seyß-Inquart probably imagined his 52nd birthday differently because he had to flee from The Hague to the province of Gelderland to escape the British. Two well-wishers – General Commissioner Wilhelm Ritterbusch (1892–1981) and NSB leader Anton Mussert (1894–1946) – also cannot bring a festive atmosphere. Bloch writes that the celebration feels more like a funeral. He believes that Seyß-Inquart will not celebrate another birthday in the Netherlands.
Curt Bloch portrays Hermann Göring (1893–1946) in the poem The Reich Marshal. He is insatiable, “loves pomp and loves grandeur just like Roman emperors,” and “degeneration, madness, cruelty” are attributed to him. Bloch connects Göring with the Reichstag fire and draws a parallel to the emperor Nero, who set Rome on fire. Against the backdrop of developments in Germany, he speaks directly to the second man in the Reich after Adolf Hitler: “just wait, Reichs Marshal, you’ll have to die soon.”
In The Trepidation Song, Curt Bloch expresses his joy at the current course of the war because the Germans are in a hopeless situation: the Russians are advancing rapidly in the east, the Allies are breaking through the protective wall from the west, the liberation of Florence is imminent (in fact, that happened three weeks after the publication date of this OWC edition), and in Asia, things are going poorly for the Axis powers as well. Members of the Dutch Nazi party NSB, with their leaders Anton Mussert and Cornelis van Geelkerken (1901–1979), are filled with fear. Bloch knows, “The swastika will fall soon.”
A newspaper article from Munich reveals that Adolf Hitler is having valuable artworks in museums and castles photographed. In case they fall victim to enemy bombings, the works will be preserved “as witnesses of immortal culture to future generations.” Curt Bloch mocks Adolf’s Art Preserves. First, they went to war, then their own country was destroyed, and art lies in ruins – but at least they can present it to future generations in “The color film at the best.”
