March 10, 1945
The cover illustration of the magazine from March 10, 1945 refers to Curt Bloch’s poem “The Torchlight of Freedom.”
The first poem is titled Bioscoop te La Rochelle (Cinema in La Rochelle). A bioscoop refers to an old projection apparatus used for screening films. In his verses, Bloch refers to the premiere of the film “Kolberg,” which took place on January 30, 1945, not only in Berlin but also in the port of La Rochelle, which was besieged by the Allies. The film depicts the siege of Kolberg in 1807 and was produced on the orders of Propaganda Minister Goebbels to bolster the German people’s morale in the final phase of World War II. However, Curt Bloch considers this motivational attempt to be futile. He believes it is “one of the last scenes of the Third Reich’s tragedy.”
In the solemn poem The Torchlight of Freedom, Bloch sees himself as a member of an army that upholds the torch of freedom. Although their path is full of thorns and hardships, some comrades have fallen into enemy hands, but the melody of freedom never ceases. Hopefully, he concludes, “Now it is not too far away, / Freedom is in sight.”
The text Murdered? refers to the assassination of Jan Feitsma, Attorney General, member of the National Socialist Movement (NSB), and, according to news reports, “Advisor to the Führer.” He was shot dead on February 2, 1945, by an unknown cyclist on Jacob Obrechtstraat in Amsterdam. Curt Bloch takes note of this news “with pleasure.” He believes this killing was not a murder. Those who have done so much injustice and caused suffering to their fellow countrymen deserve execution for high treason, if necessary even on the street.
The fourth poem, The Carriers of Culture, is inspired by a report from December 30, 1944, in the “Deutsche Zeitung,” an occupation newspaper based in Amsterdam. It quotes Arthur Seyß-Inquart, the Reich Commissioner, claiming that Germany, with its wise minds like Goethe, Schiller, Mozart, and Beethoven, has bestowed upon the “European Occident the highest cultural values.” Accordingly, the current struggle for freedom and the future is based on the greatness of these ancestors. Curt Bloch considers this pompousness. The cruel Germans since long do not have anything in common with the geniuses of old. They have killed culture and “sunk to the deepest depths” that any people have ever reached.
