July 8, 1944
Introduction to the content
In When Two Do the Same, Curt Bloch comments on Germany’s efforts to reduce energy consumption. Nazi propaganda mocks Great Britain, where everyone is urged to conserve fuel. But the Nazis do the same. Germans are constantly reminded to reduce their consumption of electricity, coal, and gas. To prove his point, Bloch includes several advertisements from German companies among his verses. He finds the figure of the “Kohlenklaus,” a citizen who illegally uses more coal than prescribed by rationing rules, especially shameful – when the Third Reich possesses the world’s richest coal mines.
Overhasty is a response to remarks by Anton Mussert, the leader of the NSB, who claims to be risking his life to serve the Netherlands. He says that he is one of the great Dutch heroes, like Willem the Silent (leader of the Dutch independence struggle against Spanish rule in the 16th century), Johan and Cornelis de Witt (respected Dutch statesmen in the 17th century), and Admiral Michiel de Ruyter (one of the most important navigators in history of the world). Bloch thinks it is premature and audacious for Mussert to see himself in such a gallery of heroes. “His self-praise stinks.”
In Nutrition Perspectives, Curt Bloch complains that the Germans are plundering their neighbour countries. There is no cheese left in Holland, no fruit in Italy – everything ends up on German tables. “The swastika locust plague is devouring this continent completely.” But just as the subdued territories are currently forced to abstain, the Germans’ fate will be the same. Then they will soon go hungry.
Invasion Francs refers to news stories, including one from the Hamburger Fremdenblatt, that report on how Allied troops in France pay for goods. With their own invasion francs, the Anglo-American soldiers gain a financial advantage and produce inflation. Curt Bloch advises the Germans to keep quiet about this topic because there is hardly anything left to buy in France. “The Germans have taken everything.” The Dutch currency has also depreciated since the occupation. Bloch envies France. He will “be happy and thank God when I see Invasion Guilders.”
