Willy Brandt Died 20 Years Ago

Last week marked the 20th anniversary of Willy Brandt's death.  The marker went completely unnoticed in the United States, and was barely mentioned even in the German press.  That is unfortunate, since Willy Brandt was the most charismatic political figure in postwar Germany.  No other German chancellor or poltiical leader did more to change America's view of Germany or the German people.  He will be foreever linked in our memories with that other charismatic figure - John F. Kennedy - and that famous speech at the Berlin Wall. 

WIlly Brandt was a friend and admirer of the United States.  By that, I mean a true friend, who did not hesitate to criticize when America did not live up to its professed ideals.  As a young man living in exile, he recognized America's contribution to the defeat of Hitler.  In the postwar era he embraced America's commitment to individual freedom and liberty, while recognizing the indispensible contribution of the US to German security, which helped Berlin survive two existential crises - the Berlin Airlift and the Berlin Wall. 

As Karsten Voigt has written, Willy Brandt collaborated with the United States his entire adult life: 

Willy Brandt schrieb  während des Zweiten Weltkrieges und auch noch in der ersten Zeit danach Berichte an die US-Botschaft in Stockholm und zumindest indirekt auch an das OSS, den Vorgänger des heutigen CIA. Das war für ihn – wie für andere Gegner des Nationalsozialismus unter den deutschen Emigranten – Ausdruck seines Interesses an einem demokratischen Nachkriegsdeutschland. Sein Wille zur Zusammenarbeit schloss damals, wie auch später, nie eine kritische Beurteilung der USA aus, wenn deren Politik seinen eigenen Überzeugungen widersprach. Deshalb bestand für den jungen Willy Brandt, ebenso wie für mich in meiner Jugend, immer ein Spannungsverhältnis zwischen dem Lob der Demokratie und Freiheit in den Vereinigten Staaten und die gleichzeitige Kritik an den negativen Auswirkungen des amerikanischen Kapitalismus.  

(During World War II and then just after the war Willy Brandt wrote reports to the US embassy in Stockholm and then, indirectly, to the OSS, the predecessor to the CIA.  For him - as well as for other German emigres who opposed National Socialism - this was an expression of his interest in a democratic postwar Germany.  His eagerness to cooperate never excluded at that time - or later - criticism of the US, when its policies contradicted its convictions.  Therefore there was always a certain tension with WIlly - as well as with me - between praise for the democracy and freedom in the United States and at the same time criticism of the effects of American capitalism.)

While the American people always admired Willy Brandt, that was not always the case with the White House and Capitol Hill in Washington DC.  The officials of the Reagan administration hated Brandt for his Ostpolitik and call for reconciliation with the East Bloc, as well as his commitment to nuclear disarmament (which, ironically, Reagan later came to embrace as well).  Here is a typical piece from the neoconservative National Review from 1985 (pdf warning): 

ARE THERE Still any lingering doubts about the wisdom of President Reagan's decision to snub Willy Brandt on bis German trip in May?  If so, lei me try to dispel tbem

Tbe chairman of tbe German Social Democratic Party (SPD) and of tbe Socialist International, ex-burgomaster of Berlin, ex-chancellor, bero to millions on tbe non-Communist Left, titular autbor of the Brandt Report, etc., has been working indefatigably to weaken Western (and in particular American) defenses. That be doesn't like Persbing or cruise missiles or the Strategic Defense Initiative is not exactly news, but there is little public awareness of the scale and persistence of his efforts.

Willy Brandt was an inspirational leader, and not just for Germany.  For millions in Poland, in the GDR, the Soviet Union, and, yes, even in America, he represented the hope of freedom AND peace and reconciliation.  The Nobel Committee just awarded the Peace Prize to the European Union. This is, in large measure, a tribute to the legacy of Willy Brandt.

I recommend Judith Michael's book Willy Brandts Amerikabild und -Politik 1933 - 1992, large chunks of which can be read online at Google Books. 

Comments

[Zyme]

A man

- leaves the country during war time
- actively works against its interest from abroad
- then falls to his knees in Poland intending to represent those Germans who did not let the others down.

Ufff... this is too much.

It is men like him which make me so glad I was born too late to witness this "greatness".

[David]

"actively works against its interest from abroad"

And if its "interests" are evil?

[Zyme]

Good and evil - each individual would give you a slightly different definition. This can hardly be a man's guidance for actions with such grave consequences.

What he did know for sure is that he was a traitor. Someone who stabbed his nation in the back.

If he faced great dangers like in Spain, it makes matters even worse. It shows how devoted his will was to cause the fall of his country.

Don't get me wrong, I don't feel too emotional about these issues. But that is only because we are no longer ruled by such a lot.

[David]

Well, I really admire him for being a traitor to a murderous regime.

[koogleschreiber]

Willy Brandt a traitor? That's sick - or Stauffenberg was the even bigger traitor.