January 20, 1945
Introduction to the content
“Blood and Soil” was a central motto of the Nazi worldview and shaped German agricultural policy. It was associated with racist, anti-Semitic ideas and justified the expansion of new settlement areas as “Lebensraum” (living space). As part of this ideology, which originated from writings by the later Reich Minister of Food and Agriculture, Walther Darré (1895–1953), the “racially unwanted” population from conquered territories in Central and Eastern Europe was expelled and annihilated. This typically went hand in hand with economic exploitation. Bloch writes about arson and looting – but with the methods of the swastika, it did not end well in the long run: “The German blood is now in vain, / and Germany lies in the dust.”
In the second text, Curt Bloch turns to the New Year’s speech of Adolf Hitler, in which the Führer appeals to the German people’s determination to persevere. They should continue to fight valiantly, “victory is ours, even if it takes years.” But Bloch predicts that these Nazi dreams will not come true. One can see: “The Führer is perishing this year.”
Field Marshal August von Mackensen (1849–1945) was a successful military leader in World War I and used for propaganda purposes by the National Socialists as a supporter of Hitler. On the occasion of his 95th birthday, Curt Bloch reflects on the lives of generals. While ordinary soldiers are often sent ahead, the strategists remain more in the background and thus achieve old age. Paul von Hindenburg (1847–1934) and Philippe Pétain (1856–1951) are mentioned as further examples of such “indestructible, eternally young” statesmen. However, Curt Bloch concludes that in the current situation, there is no longer any prospect of aging as a general. Werner von Fritsch (1880–1939) died in Poland, and Erwin von Witzleben (1881–1944) was executed on Adolf Hitler’s orders. “Generals are now seen / to lose their lives in masses / some through Hitler, some through bombs, / they fall in hecatombs.”
In the traditional Dutch children’s song Ik zag twee beren (I saw two bears), animals do something that is impossible in reality – for example, bears spreading butter. Curt Bloch writes a new text for the melody based on contemporary events. His protagonists – such as rats, finches, or a foal, but also ghosts or a person in hiding – also perform completely absurd, miraculous feats. They heat with coal, drink genever or coffee, eat sugar, steal sausages or bicycles, even though all these things were brought to Germany (Mofrika) by the occupiers and are no longer available in the Netherlands. Curt Bloch wishes at the end of the song that Dwight D. Eisenhower and the American and British troops finally make progress – because he is eagerly waiting for liberation in his hiding place.
