March 25, 1944
Introduction to the content
In the first poem of this OWC edition, Curt Bloch addresses the topic of German Thoroughness. According to Bloch’s observations, this characteristic attributed to his fellow countrymen also extends to other areas, such as to thoroughly committing mistakes and thoroughly engaging in crime. In the face of defeat, the Germans are thoroughly deprived of all joy, and after the end of the war, they would be “thoroughly down-and-out.”
Curt Bloch is awaiting the great Allied offensive. However, at that moment, there are conflicting reports in the press. In a clipped newspaper article, it is even suggested that the end of the war might not occur until 1946. Bloch becomes impatient, “because the suppression gauge has mounted too strongly lately.” He longs for the end of tyranny, but his liberation is continually postponed. “Many deadlines have already passed; eventually, one becomes fatalistic …”
As Curt Bloch describes it, the Nazi leadership staged their policy like a grand Heroic German Epic, starring are Adolf Hitler as a Deity, August von Mackensen as the Nutcracker, and Hermann Göring “with a shining moon-like face.” Joseph Goebbels acts as the director backstage. But now, the spectacle in the magnificent Opera House Unter den Linden would turn into a charade.
The popular-scientific monthly magazine Koralle reports in a short note on an innovative form of fuel production in Germany. This amuses Curt Bloch and inspires him to write the satirical poem Cunning Solution. It’s about powering means of transport by using gases extracted from human excrement. Methane from municipal sewage is thus used as a substitute for petrol. Bloch suspects it could also be used to power tanks and aircraft – even if this leads to stench. He mocks: “The future of das Reich lies in your bowels.”
